Roy Ridley
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Maurice Roy Ridley (25 January 1890 – 12 June 1969), known professionally as M. R. Ridley, was a writer and poet, and Fellow and Chaplain of Balliol College, Oxford.
Early life
Ridley was the son of William Dawson Ridley, a Church of England clergyman, Rector of Orcheston St Mary, Wiltshire, and his wife Jane Elizabeth Rutherford. He was educated at Clifton College, Bristol, and Balliol College, Oxford.<ref name=WritersWhosWho>Pine, L. G. (ed.), The Author's and Writer's Who's Who, 4th edn, 1960, p. 330</ref><ref>"Marriages", in Morning Post (London), Saturday 21 August 1886, p. 1: "The Rev. William Dawson Ridley, third son of Thomas Dawson Ridley, to Jane Elizabeth, second daughter of James Rutherford, of the Old Hall, Kirkleatham."</ref>
His grandfather, Thomas Dawson Ridley, a civil engineer of Coatham, Yorkshire, died in 1898, leaving a substantial fortune.<ref>"RIDLEY Thomas Dawson of Coatham Redcar Yorkshire civil-engineer died 13 January 1898 Probate York 30 March to John Hindmarch Ridley Thomas William Ridley and Charles Alfred Ridley contractors Effects £40,599 1s. 3d." in Wills and Administrations (England and Wales) 1899 (1898)</ref> His father died in 1899 in Bordighera.<ref>"RIDLEY the reverend William Dawson of the rectory Orcheston St Mary Wiltshire clerk died 24 February at Bordighera Italy Probate London 10 May to Jane Elizabeth Ridley widow Effects £6250 8s." in Wills and Administrations (England and Wales) 1899 (1900), p. 294 Template:Subscription required</ref>
Career
From 1920 to 1945, Ridley was a Fellow and Tutor of Balliol. He spent 1930–1931 as a visiting professor at Bowdoin College under the auspices of the Tallman Foundation. He was a lecturer at Bedford College, University of London, from 1948,<ref name=WritersWhosWho/> where he earned a Doctorate of Humane Letters.
On 23 September 1922, he married Katherine Scott in Cleveland, Ohio.<ref>"M. Roy Ridley" in Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013</ref>
In popular culture
Dorothy L. Sayers based the physical description of her character Lord Peter Wimsey (the archetypal British gentleman detective) on that of Ridley after seeing him read his Newdigate Prize-winning poem "Oxford" at the Encaenia ceremony in July 1913.<ref>Moira Davison Reynolds, Women Authors of Detective Series (2017), p. 41</ref><ref>Eric Sandberg, Elizabeth Foxwell, Dorothy L. Sayers: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction (2022), p. 199</ref>
Awards
- Newdigate Prize, 1913
Works
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