William Wallace Robson

Background

William Wallace Robson was born on June 20, 1923, in Plymouth, England, United Kingdom. He was a son of Wilfrid Robson, a barrister, and Kathleen (Ryan) Robson, a homemaker.

Education

In his early years, William attended Leeds Modern School. In 1944, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree of the first class from New College, Oxford. Later, in 1948, he got a Master of Arts degree from the same college.

Career

In 1944, William began his career as an assistant lecturer at King's College London, a post he held till 1946. Between 1946-1948, Robson served as a lecturer at Lincoln College in Oxford. Also, in 1948, William was elected a fellow of the same college, a position he held till 1970.

In 1970, William was appointed a professor of English and chair at the University of Sussex, the posts he held till 1972, when he was appointed Masson Professor of English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. In 1990, Robson retired as a Professor Emeritus.

Achievements

• William Wallace Robson was known as a scholar, professor and critic of English literature, whose essays and monographs earned him high praise for their respectful and insightful treatment of the canon of great poetry and prose in English. His best-known work is Critical Essays.
  
  The impact, which Wallace Robson made as lecturer and tutor upon the post-war English School in Oxford was considerable. He brought critical controversy to the School and championed what was then in Oxford the new wave of the Scrutiny critics and the new American criticism, so that his lectures (delivered without notes) brought an exhilarating and fresh breeze to the subject.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Critical Enquiries: Essays on Literature

    (This collection brings together a group of Wallace Robson...)

    1993
  • A Prologue to English Literature

    (The book surveys the principal writers and their works ch...)

    1986
  • Did the King see the dumb-show?

    (Inaugural lecture, delivered on March 13, 1975.)

    1975
  • Essays and Poems Presented to Lord David Cecil 1970
  • Byron as Poet 1957

Membership

• fellow

  Royal Society of Edinburgh , United Kingdom

  1988

Connections

William married Anne Varna-Moses, a teacher, on August 18, 1962. Their marriage produced two children — Rob and Hugh.

Father:

Wilfrid Robson

Mother:

Kathleen (Ryan) Robson

child:

Rob Robson

child:

Hugh Robson

Wife:

Anne Varna-Moses