Jonathan Fletcher Wordsworth (28 November 1932 – 21 June 2006) was an English academic, literary critic and expert on the Romantic era in literature.

Life

He was a great-great-great nephew of

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

and the great-great-grandson of

Christopher Wordsworth Christopher Wordsworth (30 October 180720 March 1885) was an English intellectual and a bishop of the Anglican Church. Life Wordsworth was born in London, the youngest son of Christopher Wordsworth, Master of Trinity, who was the youngest b ...

, the younger brother of the poet and Master of

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

. He was an authority on the work of William Wordsworth on whom he concentrated the bulk of his academic writings. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

, in 1957 he became a Fellow of

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

, where there is now a postgraduate scholarship in his name. He was later Professor of English Literature at

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is the newest college admitting both undergraduate and graduate students. Tracing its roots back to 1868 (although th ...

. He gave the 1969 Chatterton Lecture on Poetry His students at Oxford included

Martin Amis Martin Louis Amis (born 25 August 1949) is a British novelist, essayist, memoirist, and screenwriter. He is best known for his novels ''Money'' (1984) and ''London Fields'' (1989). He received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his memoir '' ...

Christopher Reid Chris Reid (born 1971) is a Scottish football goalkeeper. Chris or Christopher Reid may also refer to: People *Christopher Reid (rapper) (born 1964), American actor, comedian, and former rapper *Christopher Reid (writer) (born 1949), Hong Kong-bor ...

Craig Raine Craig Anthony Raine, FRSL (born 3 December 1944) is an English contemporary poet. Along with Christopher Reid, he is a notable pioneer of Martian poetry, a movement that expresses alienation with the world, society and objects. He was a fellow of ...

Nicholas Roe Nicholas Hugh Roe, FBA, FRSE (born 14 December 1955) is a scholar of English literature and an academic, specialising in Romantic literature and culture. Since 1996, he has been Professor of English Literature at the University of St Andrews. Af ...

, N. W. O. Royle, and

Robert J.C. Young Robert J. C. Young FBA (born 1950) is a British postcolonial theorist, cultural critic, and historian. Life He was educated at Repton School and Exeter College, Oxford, where he read for a B.A. and D.Phil., taught at the University of Southa ...

. He was the Chairman of the

Wordsworth Trust The Wordsworth Trust is an independent charity in the United Kingdom. It celebrates the life of the poet William Wordsworth, and looks after Dove Cottage in the Lake District village of Grasmere where Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy Wordswort ...

(1976–2002) and its President thereafter. He left behind three wives − the literary theorist Ann (Sherratt) Wordsworth,

Lucy Newlyn Lucy Newlyn (born 1956) is a poet and academic. She is Emeritus Fellow in English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, having retired as professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford in 2016. Newlyn is a specialist in eighteent ...

, Professor of English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and Jessica Prince; and seven children − four with Ann and three with Jessica including Helen, Giles and Teddy. His work appeared in the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...

.''

Works

His many critical pieces, innovative editions and books on his famous relative include: * ''The Music of Humanity'' (first published in 1969); * ''William Wordsworth: The Borders of Vision'' Clarendon Press, 1982, ; * ; * ''William Wordsworth and the Age of English Romanticism'' Rutgers University Press, 1987,

References

External links

Obituary in the Independent
Academics of the University of Oxford 1932 births 2006 deaths People educated at Westminster School, London Jonathan {{UK-academic-bio-stub