Sydney Castle Roberts Explained

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 throughout his life,^[1] and was recognised as a publisher of skill and distinction.^{[2] [3]}

Early years

Roberts was born in Birkenhead, the son of Frank Roberts, a civil engineer. He attended Brighton College and Pembroke College, Cambridge. During World War I, he served as a lieutenant in the Suffolk Regiment and was wounded in the Third Battle of Ypres.^[4]

Career

He was Secretary of Cambridge University Press from 1922 to 1948, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge from 1948 to 1958, Vice-Chancellor of University of Cambridge from 1949 to 1951, and Chairman of the British Film Institute from 1952 to 1956. He was an author, publisher and biographer and a noted Sherlockian, being president^[5] of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. According to Jon Lellenberg, Roberts is responsible for the popularisation of the Sherlockian game of criticism.^[6]

In 1954 he held the Sandars Readership in Bibliography and his topic was "The evolution of Cambridge publishing.^[7]

He was knighted in 1958.^[8]

The National Portrait Gallery holds three photographic portraits of Roberts by Elliott & Fry, made in 1949.^[9]

Personal life

He married, firstly, Irene Wallis (died 1932), daughter of Arnold Joseph Wallis, Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. 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,^[10] cabinet maker to Queen Elizabeth II, and of Michael Swann, former chairman of the BBC.

He died in Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.^[3]

Publications

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

Notes and References

1. Zuleika in Cambridge, Oleander Press; 2009.
2. Adventures with Authors, Cambridge University Press; 2010.
3. News: Obituary: Sir S. Roberts . . 22 July 1966. 14.
4. Book: War Record of the Cambridge University Press, 1914–1919.. 1920. Cambridge University Press. transcribed in Web site: Roberts S C 2nd Lt. ww1photos.com.
5. http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=no:063064674 Letter from
6. http://www.bsiarchivalhistory.org/BSI_Archival_History/Hard_Knox.html "The Ronald Knox Myth"
7. " Barker, Nicolas. 1966. "S.C." The Book Collector 15 (no 4) Winter: 419-422.
8. http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/41268/supplements/2 Supplement to the London Gazette
9. National Portrait Gallery.Sir Sydney Castle Roberts
10. Tim Swann, The Times, 21 July 2007.