Peter Meredith (born

Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye (Welsh: ''Rhosan ar Wy'') is a market town in England, near the border with Wales. It had a population of 10,582 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 11,309 in 2019. It lies in south-eastern Herefordshire, on the River Wye and ...

1933) was, prior to retirement, a lecturer in medieval and

early modern English Early Modern English or Early New English (sometimes abbreviated EModE, EMnE, or ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transition from Middle E ...

language and literature. He was editor of the journal '' Leeds Studies in English'' from around 1978 to 1981 and chaired its editorial board from 1985 until his retirement. He was also an editor of ''Medieval English Theatre''.Catherine Batt and Lesley Johnson,
Editorial Preface
, ''Leeds Studies in English'', n. s. 29 (1998), xi-xiii. He is particularly noted for his contributions, through editing, research, and performance, to the study of medieval English theatre.John Marshall, 'Introduction', in Peter Meredith,
The Practicalities of Early English Performance: Manuscripts, Records, and Staging: Shifting Paradigms in Early English Drama Studies
', ed. by John Marshall (Abingdon: Routledge, 2018), xiii-xvii.

Career

Meredith lived and studied in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

and

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

, followed by undertaking

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. From 1953-57 he was an undergraduate at

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 ...

. After graduating, he was a schoolteacher until beginning postgraduate study at the

University College of North Staffordshire Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

from 1958–60. In 1961, Meredith gained a position in the English Department at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

, moving to Australia with his 'equally adventurous wife Greta', and was soon promoted to

senior lecturer Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this concep ...

.Ralph W. V. Elliott,
Peter Meredith in Australia

''Leeds Studies in English'', n.s. 29
(1998), 5-6. As well as teaching medieval material, he also taught children's literature there. Meredith moved in 1969 to the English department at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, gaining promotion in 1994 to the Developmental Chair in Medieval Drama, which he held until his retirement around 1998.George W. Turner,
Portrait of a Friend: Peter Meredith

''Leeds Studies in English'', n.s. 29
(1998), 7-8. He was noted at both institutions for his enthusiastic teaching, and as an actor; the latter activity included amateur performances of plays by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...

Osborne Osborne may refer to: * Osborne (name) Places Australia * Osborne, South Australia (disambiguation), places associated with the suburb in the Adelaide metropolitan area * Osborne, New South Wales, a rural community in the Riverina region Can ...

, and

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

, but also academically rigorous and influential performances of medieval

mystery play Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represen ...

s. While at Leeds, Meredith was active in developing what was then the Leeds Centre for Medieval Studies and subsequently the

International Medieval Congress The International Medieval Congress (IMC) is an annual academic conference held for scholars specializing in, or with an interest in, the study of the European Middle Ages (c. 300–1500). It is organised and administered by the Institute for Med ...

, along with the Société Internationale pour l'Étude du Théâtre Médiéval (of which he was international president in 1995) and the

Records of Early English Drama The Records of Early English Drama (REED) is a performance history research project, based at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1976 by a group of international scholars interested in understanding “the native tradition ...

. Meredith's retirement was marked by the publication in 1998 of a ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' in the form of a special issue of ''Leeds Studies in English'' edited by Catherine Batt, which was additionally dedicated to his wife Greta, whose 'contribution to medieval studies at Leeds has', the editor noted, 'been so important'.

Publications

A full list of Meredith's publications up to 1998 was published by his last postgraduate student, James Cummings, updated to 2018 by John Marshall.Peter Meredith,
The Practicalities of Early English Performance: Manuscripts, Records, and Staging: Shifting Paradigms in Early English Drama Studies
', ed. by John Marshall (Abingdon: Routledge, 2018). Key works include: * with Stanley J. Kahrl, ''The N-Town Plays: A Facsimile of British Library MS Cotton Vespasian D VIII'', Leeds Texts and Monographs, Medieval Drama Facsimiles, 4 (Leeds : School of English, University of Leeds, 1977) * with Richard Beadle and Richard Rastall, ''The York Play: A Facsimile of British Library MS Additional 35290 together with a Facsimile of the 'Ordo Paginarum' Section of the A/Y Memorandum Book'', Leeds Texts and Monographs, Medieval Drama Facsimiles, 7 (Leeds: School of English, University of Leeds, 1983) * ''The 'Mary Play' From the N. Town Manuscript'' (London and New York: Longman, 1987, repr. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1997) * ''The Passion Play From the N. Town Manuscript'' (London: Longman, 1990) * ''Mankind: An Acting Edition'', Playtexts in Performance (Leeds: Alumnus, 1997) * ''The Practicalities of Early English Performance: Manuscripts, Records, and Staging: Shifting Paradigms in Early English Drama Studies'', ed. by John Marshall (Abingdon: Routledge, 2018) ollection of essays

Career

Publications

References

Further reading