Edward Fairchild Watling (8 October 1899 – 6 September 1990) was an English schoolmaster, classicist and translator. He produced translations for Penguin Classics of

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...

three Theban plays Sophocles (; grc, wikt:Σοφοκλῆς, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three classical Greece, ancient Greek tragedy, tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in fu ...

, nine plays of

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...

and a selection of

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

's tragedies. The son of a Denbighshire dairy farmer, Watling was educated at Christ's Hospital and

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

. He took a Second in Classical Moderations in 1920 and a Third in Literae Humaniores ('"Greats") in 1922.''Oxford University Calendar 1925'', Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1925 : 234, 273 Watling taught

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

at King Edward VII School in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

from 1924 until his retirement in 1960. He contributed to amateur dramatics in

, both as an actor and as a producer, initially for the Sheffield Playgoers and later in Geoffrey Ost's productions at the

Sheffield Playhouse The Sheffield Repertory Theatre was a theatre company in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Herbert Prince, a railway clerk, founded the amateur dramatics society in 1919,Frank Long "Sheffield" in Colin Chambers ''Twentieth Century Theatre'', ...

. He also wrote sketches for the West End revues of André Charlot, and was a regular reviewer of both books and stage productions for the '' Sheffield Telegraph''. As "Marcus" he compiled crosswords for '' The Listener'' until he was in his seventies. In 1928 Watling married Cicely Porter (died 1982; one daughter). He died on 6 September 1990.

References

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, Obituaries, 21 September 1990
Material on Old Edwardians site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watling, Edward Fairchild English classical scholars People educated at Christ's Hospital Alumni of University College, Oxford 1899 births 1990 deaths People from Denbighshire Schoolteachers from Yorkshire