David Gwilym James (25 September 1905 – 10 December 1968)''JAMES, David Gwily'', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007, accessed 17 Aug 2013
/ref> was the second

vice chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth countr ...

of the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

joining in October 1952 and remaining till 1965, the year being marked by university expansion in the United Kingdom following the strong increase in the post-war birth rate in the late 1940s peaking in 1947.

Early life

He was born in

Griffithstown Griffithstown is a large suburb of Pontypool in the borough of Torfaen, Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It is an ecclesiastical parish, formed in May 1898, from Llanfrechfa Upper and Panteg, and includes Sebastopol, but ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He was educated at

West Monmouth School West Monmouth School (Welsh: ''Ysgol Gorllewin Mynwy''; colloquially: West Mon) is a state-funded and non-selective secondary school in Pontypool, Torfaen, south Wales. Admissions Pupils who attend the school generally live in the Torfaen area. ...

Pontypool Pontypool ( ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in South Wales. , it has a population of 29,062. Locat ...

and then attended Aberystwyth University College,

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

and then

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

Career

He became warden of Merthyr Settlement and then a tutor in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

for the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

from 1934 to 1937. From 1937 to 1941 he was a lecturer in English at the

University College, Cardiff Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

. He was a temporary principal at the Board of Trade in 1941. From 1942 to 1952 he was Winterstoke Professor of English at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

. In 1952 he was appointed

Vice Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth countr ...

of the

. The university had been the Hartley University College awarding external degrees of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. It had been founded 50 years earlier in 1902, and its origin was as the Hartley Institution formed in 1862. The university college had been granted full university status on 29 April 1952 when

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

granted it a

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

. Student numbers in 1952 were about 1,000 with a staff of around 100. By 1963 student numbers had grown to 2,094. During James' tenure, in 1963 the Nuffield Theatre was opened on the main Highfield campus for both visiting and university performers. Also in James' tenure, the

Robbins Report The Robbins Report (the report of the Committee on Higher Education, chaired by Lionel Robbins) was commissioned by the British government and published in 1963. The committee met from 1961 to 1963. After the report's publication, its conclusions ...

was published in 1963. This proposed that the number of students at English universities should rise from 150,000 to 170,000. Southampton set about increasing its students to 4,000, not by 1980 as planned, but by 1967 and James’ last two years as vice-chancellor set about reaching that target. After Southampton he was a visiting lecturer at several institutions including

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

from 1965 to 1966.

Personal life

In 1931 he married Dillys Margaret Cledwyn (d. 1965) and they had one son and three daughters. In 1967 he married second Gwynneth Chegwidden. A notable friend of his was

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

Publications

* Scepticism and Poetry, An Essay on the Poetic Imagination: 1937, reprinted 1980, Greenwood Press * The Romantic Comedy, 1948, OUP, ASIN: B0010WHOVA * The Life of Reason, The Life of Reason - he English Augustans- Hobbes, Locke and Bolingbroke, Pub: Longmans 1949 ASIN: B0006DGLGI * Wordsworth and Tennyson (Warton Lecture, British Academy, 1950) Reprinted 1982 Haskell House Publishers Inc. * Byron and Shelley (Byron Foundation Lecture, Univ. of Nottingham, 1951) Reprinted 1978, R West, * The Dream of Learning, December 1951, OUP * (Editor) The Universities and the Theatre, 1952 * Matthew Arnold and the Decline of English Romanticism, 1961 * The Dream of Prospero, 1967 * Henry Sidgwick: Science and Faith in Victorian England (Riddell Memorial Lecture) OUP

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Davis Gwylym 1905 births 1968 deaths Vice-chancellors of the University of Southampton Academics of the University of Bristol People educated at West Monmouth School Alumni of Aberystwyth University Alumni of University College London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge

Early life

Career

Personal life

Publications

See also

References