John Douglas Woodruff (1897–1978) was the editor of the ''Tablet'' and later chairman of the Catholic publishers Burns & Oates.

Biography

Douglas Woodruff was educated at

Downside School Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 11 to 18. It is located between Bath, Frome, Wells and Bruton, and is attached to Downside Abbey. Originall ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

. At Oxford, he was a member of the Union's debating team; his lifelong friend

Christopher Hollis Christopher Hollis may refer to: * Christopher Hollis (politician) Maurice Christopher Hollis, known as Christopher Hollis (2 December 1902 – 5 May 1977), was a British schoolmaster, university teacher, author and Conservative politician. Life ...

was in the team as well, and they successfully toured the world. Oxford's professor,

Maurice Bowra Sir Cecil Maurice Bowra, (; 8 April 1898 – 4 July 1971) was an English classical scholar, literary critic and academic, known for his wit. He was Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, from 1938 to 1970, and served as Vice-Chancellor of the Univer ...

, suspected that already at college Woodruff "was a Roman Catholic of the proselytizing kind, who therefore represented an immediate threat to his own flock". Woodruff was a close and influential friend of

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

. From 1936 to 1967 he was the editor of the ''

Tablet Tablet may refer to: Medicine * Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill" Computing * Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the s ...

'', making the periodical the leading voice of English Catholicism, and from 1948 to 1962 he was the chairman of the Catholic publishers

Burns & Oates Burns & Oates was a British Roman Catholic publishing house which most recently existed as an imprint of Continuum. Company history It was founded by James Burns in 1835, originally as a bookseller. Burns was of Presbyterian background and he g ...

. He was an expert and essayist on

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...

. Woodruff first met Belloc in Oxford in the autumn of 1920, having been introduced to him because he had been a friend and contemporary of Louis Belloc at Downside School. Woodruff was part of the Catholic right-wing, and, according to Martin Redfern, one of his employees at the ''Tablet'', he wanted a clear separation between politics and religion. In ''Pope Paul's New Mass'', Michael Davies introduced him as "probably England's most erudite layman".

Personal life

In 1933 he married Hon. Marie Immaculeé Antoinette Lyon-Dalberg-Acton (1905–1994), widely known as ‘Mia’ (from her initials). She was the eldest child of

Richard Lyon-Dalberg-Acton, 2nd Baron Acton Richard Maximilian Lyon-Dalberg-Acton, 2nd Baron Acton, (7 August 1870 – 16 June 1924) was a British peer and diplomat, ultimately Britain's first Ambassador to Finland in 1919–20. Early life The scion of an ancient and distinguished Shrops ...

and Dorothy Lyon.

Works

*''Plato's American Republic'', 1926, K. Paul, Trench, Trubner *''The Merry Jests of the Widow Edyth'', 1929 *''Expansion and Emigration'' in ''Early Victorian England: 1830–1865'' ed. G. M. Young, 1934, Oxford University Press *''Charlemagne'', 1935, D. Appleton-Century Company *''The first stage – from London to Paris'' in ''Grand tour; a journey in the tracks of the age of aristocracy, conducted by Mona Wilson, Douglas Woodruff, Edmund Blunden and others...'', ed. Richard Stanton Lambert, 1937, E. P. Dutton & co. *''The story of the British colonial empire'', 1939, H. M. Stationery off *''For Hilaire Belloc: Essays in Honor of His 71st birthday'', editor, 1942 *''Still Talking at Random'', 1948, Hollis & Carter *''Essays on Church and Stateted'', 1952, Hollis & Carter *''Walrus talk'', 1954, Hollis & Carter *''The Tichborne Claimant: A Victorian Mystery'', 1957, Hollis & Carter *''The Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism'', 1961, Hawthorn Books *''Church and State'', 1961, Hawthorn Books *''The Life and Times of Alfred the Great'', 1993, Weidenfeld and NicolsonThe Life and Times of Alfred the Great
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Legacy

Douglas Woodruff Papers are preserved at the

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodruff, Douglas 1897 births 1978 deaths English writers English Roman Catholics People educated at Downside School