Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh (; 5 September 1861 – 13 May 1922) was an English scholar, poet, and author. Raleigh was also a

Cambridge Apostle The Cambridge Apostles (also known as ''Conversazione Society'') is an intellectual society at the University of Cambridge founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who became the first Bishop of Gibraltar.W. C. Lubenow, ''The Ca ...

Biography

Walter Alexander Raleigh was born in London, the fifth child and only son of a local Congregationalist minister. Raleigh was educated at the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , speciali ...

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, and

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

. He was Professor of English Literature at the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College in

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...

in India (1885–87), Professor of Modern Literature at the

University College Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

(1890–1900),

Regius Professor of English Language and Literature The Regius Chair of English Language and Literature at the University of Glasgow was founded in 1861 by Queen Victoria, and is the only Regius Professorship in the Faculty of Arts. History The first professor appointed was John Nichol, a grad ...

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

(1900–1904), and in 1904 became the first holder of the Chair of English Literature 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 ...

and he was a fellow of

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 ...

(1914–22). Raleigh was knighted in 1911. Among his works are ''Style'' (1897), ''Milton'' (1900) and ''Shakespeare'' (1907), but in his day he was more renowned as a stimulating if informal lecturer than as a critic. On the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he turned to the war as his primary subject. Raleigh's correspondence during the war revealed strong anti-German beliefs: one letter stated "German University Culture is mere evil", and added that the deaths "of 100 Boche professors ... would be a benefit to the human race". His finest book may be the first volume of ''The War in the Air'' (1922), whose volumes II to VI (1928–1937, plus 3 volumes of maps) had to be compiled by

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after Raleigh's death. In 1915, he delivered the Vanuxem lectures at

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

on "The Origins of Romance" and "The Beginnings of the Romantic Revival," and lectured on

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

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, which gave him the degree of

Litt.D. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

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Raleigh died at the

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, Oxford, from

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

(contracted during a visit to the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

) on 13 May 1922 (aged 60), being survived by his wife, Lucie Gertrude, three of their four sons, and a daughter. His daughter Philippa married the writer

Charles Whibley Charles Whibley (9 December 1859 – 4 March 1930) was an English literary journalist and author. In literature and the arts, his views were progressive. He supported James Abbott McNeill Whistler (they had married sisters). He also recommended ...

. He is buried in the churchyard of the parish church of St. Lawrence at

North Hinksey North Hinksey is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, immediately west of Oxford. The civil parish includes the large settlement of Botley, effectively a suburb of Oxford. North Hinksey was part of Berkshire until the 1974 bo ...

, near Oxford. His son Hilary edited his light prose, verse and plays in ''Laughter from a Cloud'' (1923). Raleigh is probably best known for the poem "Wishes of an Elderly Man, Wished at a Garden Party, June 1914": Raleigh Park at North Hinksey, near Harcourt Hill where he lived from 1909 to his death, is named after him. The Department of English at

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

has an active Raleigh Literary Society, which regularly organises performances of scenes from Shakespeare's plays.

Bibliography

; Anthumous
''The English Novel''
(1894) * ''Robert Louis Stevenson: An Essay'' (1895)
2nd edition, 1896

''Style''
(1897) * ''Milton'' (1900)
1905 reprint
* ''Wordsworth'' (1903) * ''The English Voyagers'' (1904) * ''Shakespeare'' (1907) *
''Six Essays on Johnson''
(1910)
''Early English Voyages of the 16th Century''
(1910)
''Shakespeare's England : an account of the life & manners of his age''
(1916, with Sir

Sidney Lee Sir Sidney Lee (5 December 1859 – 3 March 1926) was an English biographer, writer, and critic. Biography Lee was born Solomon Lazarus Lee in 1859 at 12 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London. He was educated at the City of London School , ...

) * Annual Shakespeare Lecture of the British Academy (1918)
''The War in the Air: being the story of the part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force'', Volume I: "Air operations of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign; the Western Front in 1915/1916; naval air operations."
(1922; revised 1939) ; Posthumous * ''The Letters of Sir Walter Raleigh 1879–1922'' (1926, 2 volumes; 1928, enlarged); reprinted as ''The Letters of Sir Walter Raleigh 1879 to 1922'' (2005, 2-in-1 volume)

References

Glasgow James MacLehose and Sons Publishers to the University

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raleigh, Walter Alexander 1861 births 1922 deaths People from North Hinksey Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Alumni of University College London People educated at the City of London School Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Aligarh Muslim University faculty Merton Professors of English Literature Deaths from typhoid fever 19th-century English writers 20th-century English writers Writers from London English male poets 19th-century English male writers Knights Bachelor