Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh (; 5 September 1861 – 13 May 1922) was an English scholar, poet, and author. Raleigh was also a

Cambridge Apostle The Cambridge Apostles (also known as the Conversazione Society) is an intellectual society at the University of Cambridge founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who became the first Bishop of Gibraltar. History Student ...

Biography

Walter Alexander Raleigh was born in London, the fifth child and only son of a local Congregationalist minister. Raleigh was educated at the

City of London School The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

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

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

. He was Professor of English Literature at the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College in

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Koil) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capital, New Delhi. ...

in India (1885–87), Professor of Modern Literature at the

University College Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University, it received Royal Charter by King Edward VII in 1903 attaining the decr ...

(1890–1900),

Regius Professor of English Language and Literature The Regius Chair of English Language and Literature at the University of Glasgow was founded in 1861 by Queen Victoria, and is the only Regius Professorship in the Faculty of Arts. History The first professor appointed was John Nichol, a gradu ...

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

(1900–1904), and in 1904 became the first holder of the Chair of English Literature at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

and he was a fellow of

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

(1914–22). Raleigh was knighted in 1911. Among his works are ''Style'' (1897), ''Milton'' (1900) and ''Shakespeare'' (1907), but in his day he was more renowned as a stimulating if informal lecturer than as a critic. On the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he turned to the war as his primary subject. Raleigh's correspondence during the war revealed strong anti-German beliefs: one letter stated "German University Culture is mere evil", and added that the deaths "of 100 Boche professors ... would be a benefit to the human race". His finest book may be the first volume of ''The War in the Air'' (1922), whose volumes II to VI (1928–1937, plus 3 volumes of maps) had to be compiled by

Henry Albert Jones Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainment ...

after Raleigh's death. In 1915, he delivered the Vanuxem lectures at

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

on "The Origins of Romance" and "The Beginnings of the Romantic Revival," and lectured on

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He ...

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

, which gave him the degree of Litt.D.

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Raleigh died at the

Acland Nursing Home The Acland Hospital (also previously known as the Acland Nursing Home, Acland Home and the Sarah Acland Home for Nurses) was a private nursing home and hospital in central North Oxford, England, located in a prominent position at the southern end ...

, Oxford, from

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...

(contracted during a visit to the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

) on 13 May 1922 (aged 60), being survived by his wife, Lucie Gertrude Jackson (sister-in-law of

Catherine Carswell Catherine Roxburgh Carswell (née Macfarlane; 27 March 1879 – 18 February 1946) was a Scottish author, biographer and journalist, now known as one of the few women to take part in the Scottish Renaissance. Her biography of the Scottish poet R ...

), three of their four sons, and a daughter. His daughter Philippa married the writer

Charles Whibley Charles Whibley (9 December 1859 – 4 March 1930) was an English literary journalist and author. In literature and the arts, his views were progressive. He supported James Abbott McNeill Whistler (they had married sisters). He also recommended ...

. He is buried in the churchyard of the parish church of St. Lawrence at

North Hinksey North Hinksey is a village in the civil parish of Botley and North Hinksey, in the Vale of White Horse district, in Oxfordshire, England, on the west side of the Thames flood plain immediately opposite the city of Oxford. The civil parish incl ...

, near Oxford. His son Hilary edited his light prose, verse and plays in ''Laughter from a Cloud'' (1923). Raleigh is probably best known for the poem "Wishes of an Elderly Man, Wished at a Garden Party, June 1914": Raleigh Park at North Hinksey, near

Harcourt Hill Harcourt Hill is a hill and community in North Hinksey in Oxfordshire, England, west of the city of Oxford. There is a good view of the city from the hill. It lies between Hinksey Hill to the southeast, Boars Hill to the south and Botley to t ...

where he lived from 1909 to his death, is named after him. The Department of English at

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

has an active Raleigh Literary Society, which regularly organises performances of scenes from Shakespeare's plays.

Bibliography

; Anthumous
''The English Novel''
(1894) * ''Robert Louis Stevenson: An Essay'' (1895)
2nd edition, 1896

''Style''
(1897) * ''Milton'' (1900)
1905 reprint
* ''Wordsworth'' (1903) * ''The English Voyagers'' (1904) * ''Shakespeare'' (1907) *
''Six Essays on Johnson''
(1910)
''Early English Voyages of the 16th Century''
(1910)
''Shakespeare's England : an account of the life & manners of his age''
(1916, with Sir

Sidney Lee Sir Sidney Lee (5 December 1859 – 3 March 1926) was an English biographer, writer, and critic. Biography Lee was born Solomon Lazarus Lee in 1859 at 12 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London. He was educated at the City of London School and ...

) * Annual Shakespeare Lecture of the British Academy (1918)
''The War in the Air: being the story of the part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force'', Volume I: "Air operations of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign; the Western Front in 1915/1916; naval air operations."
(1922; revised 1939) ; Posthumous * ''The Letters of Sir Walter Raleigh 1879–1922'' (1926, 2 volumes; 1928, enlarged); reprinted as ''The Letters of Sir Walter Raleigh 1879 to 1922'' (2005, 2-in-1 volume)

References

Glasgow James MacLehose and Sons Publishers to the University

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raleigh, Walter Alexander 1861 births 1922 deaths People from North Hinksey Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Alumni of University College London People educated at the City of London School Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Academic staff of Aligarh Muslim University Merton Professors of English Literature Deaths from typhoid fever in the United Kingdom 19th-century English writers 20th-century English writers Writers from London English male poets 19th-century English male writers Knights Bachelor