Jack Arthur Walter Bennett (28 February 1911 – 29 January 1981) was a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
–born literary scholar.
Early life and education
Jack Arthur Walter Bennett was born at
Mount Eden
Mount Eden is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand whose name honours George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland. It is south of the Central Business District (CBD). Mt Eden Road winds its way around the side of Mount Eden Domain and continues to weave ba ...
,
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, New Zealand, the eldest son of Ernest Bennett, a foreman for a shoe manufacturer, where he was a "
shoe clicker and pattern cutter", and Alexandra, née Corrall, both born in
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
, England. The Bennetts lived in a "suburban bungalow" called "Rocky Nook". Bennett attended
Mount Albert Grammar School
Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in ...
in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. He notably wrote the
Mount Albert Grammar School hymn, which is sung at school assemblies to this day.
Bennett studied at the
University of Auckland
, mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work
, established = 1883; years ago
, endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021)
, budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021)
, chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant
, vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...
, where he is described by biographer
James McNeish
Sir James Henry Peter McNeish (23 October 1931 – 11 November 2016) was a New Zealand novelist, playwright and biographer.
Biography
McNeish attended Auckland Grammar School and graduated from Auckland University College with a degree in lang ...
as "poor and deserving" before going on to
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...
,
where, still indigent, he survived on a diet of
Cornish pasties
A pasty () is a British baked pastry, a traditional variety of which is particularly associated with Cornwall, South West England, but has spread all over the British Isles. It is made by placing an uncooked filling, typically meat and vegetab ...
.
Career
In McNeish's book ''Dance of the Peacocks'', he is noted as a member of what was to be described in British academe as the Oxford "New Zealand Mafia",
[ McNeish, James (2003). ''Dance of the Peacocks: New Zealanders in Exile in the Time of Hitler and Mao Tse-tung''. Random House New Zealand. p. 356-364] a loose-knit group of extraordinarily gifted young men from New Zealand who studied at Oxford University, many as
Rhodes Scholars
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
, before the Second World War. The link between them was to endure for the rest of their lives. The group included
John Mulgan
John Alan Edward Mulgan (31 December 1911 – 26 April 1945) was a New Zealand writer, journalist and editor, and the elder son of journalist and writer Alan Mulgan. His influence on New Zealand literature and identity grew in the years afte ...
,
Dan Davin
Daniel Marcus Davin (1 September 1913 – 28 September 1990), generally known as Dan Davin, was an author who wrote about New Zealand, although for most of his career he lived in Oxford, England, working for Oxford University Press. The themes o ...
,
James Munro Bertram
James Munro Bertram (11 August 1910 – 24 August 1993) was a New Zealand Rhodes scholar, a journalist, writer, relief worker, prisoner of war and a university professor.
Early life and influences
Bertram was born in Auckland on 11 August 1910, s ...
,
Desmond Patrick Costello Desmond Patrick Costello (31 January 1912 – 23 February 1964) was a New Zealand-born linguist, soldier, diplomat and university lecturer and professor who has been accused of being a KGB agent.
Early life
Costello was born in Auckland, the second ...
,
Charles Brasch
Charles Orwell Brasch (27 July 1909 – 20 May 1973) was a New Zealand poet, literary editor and arts patron. He was the founding editor of the literary journal ''Landfall'', and through his 20 years of editing the journal, had a significant im ...
,
Norman Davis and
Ian Milner
Ian Frank George Milner (6 June 1911 – 31 May 1991) was a New Zealand Rhodes Scholar at New College, Oxford who had attended Waitaki Boys' High School. He was then a political scientist, a civil servant with the Australian Department of External ...
. McNeish describes Bennett as "at an angle, separated by the exuberance of his scholarship, his saintliness, and his forgetfulness ... he considered himself lucky to have received the Scholarship
o Oxford since he forgot to include any testimonials with his application".
McNeish also mentions Bennett's work with the British Information Service in America during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
: asked to help out for a few weeks, he remained for the duration, returning to Oxford in 1943 and at the end of the war.
He became best known as a scholar of
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
literature. He was editor of the journal ''
Medium Aevum
The Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature (SSMLL) is a learned society that supports scholarly research and publication on the culture of the Middle Ages. It is best known for publishing the international academic journal ''M ...
'' from 1957 to 1981, having earlier assisted his predecessor,
Charles Talbut Onions
Charles Talbut Onions (C. T. Onions) (10 September 1873 – 8 January 1965) was an English grammarian and lexicographer and the fourth editor of the ''Oxford English Dictionary''.
Life
Onions was born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, the eldest son o ...
, and was a colleague of
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
at
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
. In 1964 he succeeded Lewis as
Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English at
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
in 1976.
His most substantial work was the volume ''Middle English Literature'' for the Oxford History of English Literature series, which was completed after his death by Douglas Gray and published in 1986. Other works include ''The Parlement of Foules: An Interpretation'' (1957); ''Chaucer's Book of Fame: An Exposition of "The House of Fame"'' (1960); and ''Chaucer at Oxford and at Cambridge'' (1974). Bennett also edited several volumes, including ''The Knight's Tale'' by Chaucer, ''Early Middle English Verse and Prose'' (1966, with G. V. Smithers), and the collection ''Essays on Malory'' (1963).
He was one of the
Inklings
The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who pra ...
, an informal literary group that included two of the most important writers of the twentieth century,
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
and
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, 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 authors of ''
The Chronicles of Narnia
''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, telev ...
'' and ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
'' respectively.
He is buried at the
Ascension Parish Burial Ground
The Ascension Parish Burial Ground, formerly known as the burial ground for the parish of St Giles and St Peter's, is a cemetery off Huntingdon Road in Cambridge, England. Many notable University of Cambridge academics are buried there, includi ...
in Cambridge with his wife, Gwyneth (1916–1980).
Notes
References
*
*
Further reading
*Piero Boitani & Anna Torti, eds. (1983) ''Literature in Fourteenth-Century England: The J. A. W. Bennett Memorial Lectures, Perugia, 1981–1982''. Tübingen: Narr; Cambridge: Brewer.
*P. L. Heyworth, ed. (1981). ''Medieval Studies for J. A. W. Bennett: Aetatis Suae LXX''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Jack Arthur Walter
1911 births
1981 deaths
Fellows of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
University of Auckland alumni
Alumni of Merton College, Oxford
Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America
New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom
Professors of Medieval and Renaissance English (Cambridge)