Philip John Stead OBE,

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

(5 February 1915 – 22 June 2005), was an English

criminologist Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

, author,

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

, translator and poet. After retirement in the United Kingdom, he emigrated to New York and then

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. Stead was born in Swinton, then in the

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

in 1915 and was educated at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Moving to London, he became a member of

The Critics' Circle The Critics' Circle is the national Professional association, professional body of United Kingdom, British critics for dance, drama, film, music, books and visual arts. It was established in 1913 as a successor to the Society of Dramatic Critics ...

. 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 ...

, he served in the British Army in North Africa, Italy, France, Belgium and Germany. In 1946, he was demobilised with the rank of captain. In 1947, he married Judith Irene Freeder and lived in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950 and was appointed to the

National Police College The Police Staff College, Bramshill, Bramshill House, Bramshill, (near Hook) Hampshire, England, was until 2015 the principal police staff training establishment in England and Wales. History The need for a training college for the police wa ...

Bramshill House Bramshill House, in Bramshill, northeast Hampshire, England, is one of the largest and most important Jacobean prodigy house mansions in England. It was built in the early 17th century by the 11th Baron Zouche of Harringworth but was partly ...

in 1953. In 1966 he was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. In 1971 he took sabbatical leave to teach at the

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts c ...

at the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

. When he retired from Bramshill in 1974, Stead returned to John Jay College as professor of police studies and was appointed dean of graduate studies. He emigrated to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

with his wife and worked with the police section of the

UN Convention on the Prevention of Crime The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

. He finally retired in 1982 and moved to

Hyannis, Massachusetts Hyannis is the largest of the seven villages in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area at the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer t ...

and then South Yarmouth where he wrote poetry and took up

amateur dramatics An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History Hist ...

. He died there on 22 June 2005, aged 89 years.

Bibliography

* ''In the Street of the Angel'' (1947) * ''Songs of the Restoration Theatre'' (1947) * ''The Charlatan'' (1948) * ''Fausta'' (1950) * ''Mr Punch'' (1950) * ''Vidocq: a Biography'' (1953) * ''The Police of Paris'' (1957) * ''Second Bureau. On the activities of the French Intelligence Service during the Second World War'' (1959) * ''Police'' (1974) * ''Pioneers in Policing'' (1978) * ''The Structure of Education and Police Careers in Europe and America'' (1978) * ''The Police of Britain'' (1985) * ''Sounding Recall'' (2004)

Translations

* ''The Memoirs of Lacenaire'' by Pierre François Gaillard (1952) * ''Les Belles Heures de ma Vie''. ( Cécile Sorel: An autobiography). (1953) * ''The Mouchotte Diaries'' by

René Mouchotte Commandant René Mouchotte DFC (21 August 1914 – 27 August 1943) was a World War II pilot of the French Air Force, who escaped from Vichy French–controlled Oran to join the Free French forces. Serving with RAF Fighter Command, he rose to c ...

and André Dézarrois (1956) * ''Oliver Kept a Diary'' by Jean Loup Dariel (1956) * ''Destination Berlin'' by Paul Marie Ernest Vialar (1957)

References

British criminologists 1915 births 2005 deaths Officers of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature 20th-century British translators People from Swinton, South Yorkshire People from Hyannis, Massachusetts People from Yarmouth, Massachusetts {{England-translator-stub