Sir Sydney Castle Roberts (3 April 1887 – 21 July 1966) was a British author, publisher and university administrator. He was a well-known and popular figure around

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

throughout his life, and was recognised as a publisher of skill and distinction.

Early years

Roberts was born in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liv ...

, the son of Frank Roberts, a civil engineer. He attended

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he served as a lieutenant in the

Suffolk Regiment The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the First and Second World Wars, before b ...

and was wounded in the

Third Battle of Ypres The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by ...

Career

He was Secretary of

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...

from 1922 to 1948, Master of

from 1948 to 1958, Vice-Chancellor of

University of Cambridge , 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 ...

from 1949 to 1951, and Chairman of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

from 1952 to 1956. He was an author, publisher and biographer and a noted Sherlockian, being president of the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

Society of London. According to Jon Lellenberg, Roberts is responsible for the popularisation of the Sherlockian game of criticism. He was knighted in 1958. The National Portrait Gallery holds three photographic portraits of Roberts by

Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry was a Victorian photography studio founded in 1863 by Joseph John Elliott (14 October 1835 – 30 March 1903) and Clarence Edmund Fry (1840 – 12 April 1897). For a century, the firm's core business was taking and publishing photo ...

, made in 1949.

Personal life

He married, firstly, Irene Wallis (died 1932), daughter of Arnold Joseph Wallis, Fellow of

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th centur ...

. They had two daughters and a son. After her death, in 1938, he married a second time to Marjorie Dykes, widow of Dr Meredith Blake Robson Swann. Roberts was stepfather to

Hugh Swann Hugh Sinclair Swann (11 March 1925 – 13 June 2007), otherwise known as Tim Swann, became the cabinet maker to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. His work was inspired by his admiration for Barnsley, Gimson and Russell. He fitted many of the m ...

,Tim Swann
''The Times''
21 July 2007. cabinet maker to

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, and of

Michael Swann Michael Meredith Swann, Baron Swann, FRS, FRSE (1 March 1920 – 22 September 1990) was a British molecular and cell biologist. He was appointed chairman of the BBC, awarded a knighthood and subsequently a life peerage. Early life Swann was bo ...

, former chairman of the BBC. He died in

Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Camp ...

in Cambridge.

Publications

# ''A Picture Book of British History''; Cambridge University Press, 1914 # ''The Story of Doctor Johnson: being an introduction to Boswell's Life''; Cambridge University Press, 1919 # ''A History of the Cambridge University Press 1521–1921''; Cambridge University Press, 1921 # ''Doctor Johnson In Cambridge: Essays In Boswellian Imitation''; Putnam, 1922 # ''Lord Macaulay: The Pre-eminent Victorian''; Oxford University Press, 1927 # ''The charm of Cambridge''; A & C Black, 1927 # ''An Eighteenth-century Gentleman and other essays''; Cambridge University Press, 1930 # ''Doctor Watson: Prolegomena to the study of a biographical problem''; Faber & Faber, 1931 # ''Introduction to Cambridge''; Cambridge University Press, 1934 # ''Pembroke College, Cambridge: a short history''; Cambridge University Press, 1936 # ''Zuleika in Cambridge''; Heffer & Sons, 1941 # ''Springs Of Hellas And Other Essays'', with Memoir by S.C. Roberts, Cambridge University Press, 1945 # ''British Universities'' (Britain in Pictures); Collins, 1947 # ''The Sir Walter Scott Lectures for 1948''; Oliver and Boyd, 1948 # ''Sherlock Holmes: Selected Stories'': with an introduction by S C Roberts, Oxford University Press, 1951 # ''Holmes & Watson: A Miscellany'' (Otto Penzler's Sherlock Holmes Library); Oxford University Press, 1953 # ''Samuel Johnson''; Longmans, 1954 # ''The Evolution of Cambridge Publishing''; Cambridge University Press, 1956 # ''Doctor Johnson, and others''; Cambridge University Press, 1958 # ''Edwardian Retrospect''; UK English Association, 1963 # ''Adventures with Authors''; Cambridge University Press, 1966 # ''The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Megatherium Thefts'', Penguin Books 1985

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Sydney Castle 1887 births 1966 deaths People from Birkenhead Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Masters of Pembroke College, Cambridge Knights Bachelor Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge People educated at Brighton College 20th-century British novelists British non-fiction writers British male novelists 20th-century British male writers Male non-fiction writers