Biographies

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Rabelais, François (c. 1494–1553). French Renaissance writer, doctor and humanist. Uninhibited writer of fantasy and satire replete with dirty jokes and bawdy songs.

Raleigh, Sir Walter (1861–1922). Professor of English Literature, Oxford, 1904–1922.

Ramadhin, Sonny (1929–). Cricketer. Spin bowler for West Indies, 1950–1961.

Ramsay, Allen Beville (1872–1955). Eton master, 1895–1925, and Master of Magdalene, Cambridge, 1925–1947, succeeding A C Benson. Vice-chancellor, 1929–1931. He loved 'the three Cs—classics, cricket, chess'. The Times's obituary notice to him was headed 'The Gentle Scholar'.

Ramsay, Lady (Victoria) Patricia Helena Elizabeth (1887–1974). Youngest daughter of the Duke of Connaught. On her marriage in 1919 she obtained the king's consent to abandon her royal titles.

Ramsey, (Arthur) Michael (1904–1988). Anglican priest. Archbishop of York 1956–1961, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1961–1974. As Bishop of Durham (1952–1956) he was one of the two bishops who acted as supporters to the Queen at her coronation.

Ranjitsinhji, Kumar Shri (1878–1933). Cricketer and Maharajah of Nawangar. The first Indian to play for England (1896–1902). Captain of Sussex, 1899–1903. Batsman of legendary skill. (The editor of the single volume condensation of the L H-D Letters (2001) altered the spelling to the incorrect 'Randjitsinhji'.)

Ransome, Arthur Michell (1884–1976). Writer, best known for his books for children, beginning with Swallows and Amazons (1930) and ending with Great Northern? (1947). His autobiography, edited by RH-D, was published posthumously in 1976.

Ratchford, Fannie Elizabeth (1887–1974). American librarian and scholar. Her main specialisms were the Brontës and T J Wise.

Rattigan, Sir Terence Mervyn (1911–1977). Playwright.

Raverat, Gwendolen Mary (1885–1957). Wood engraver. Her book Period Piece (1952), was an account of her upbringing and family.

Rawlins, Francis Hay (1850–1920). Eton master 1875–1916, Vice-provost 1916–1920. A distinguished classical scholar.

Raymond, Cyril (1897–1973). English actor. Best known for his role as the kindly husband in the film Brief Encounter.

Raymond, John (1923–77). Critic and author. Assistant literary editor of The New Statesman 1952–1958. Published books on subjects as diverse as Baldwin and Simenon.

Rayner Wood, Algernon Cockburn (1874–1953). Eton master, 1898–1922. Teacher of modern languages.

Reade, Charles (1814–1884). Novelist and dramatist, best known for the historical novel, The Cloister and the Hearth, 1861. Other novels exposed social injustices and helped the cause of reform.

Reed, Talbot Baines (1852–1893). Author of books for children, in the tradition of Hughes's Tom Brown's Schooldays.

Regler, Gustav (1898–1963). German socialist novelist. Political commissar of the XII International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. His books were banned under the Third Reich. He wrote about his Spanish experiences in The Great Crusade (New York, 1940). His memoirs were published as The Owl of Minerva in 1959.

Reilly, Sir (D'Arcy) Patrick (1909–1999). Diplomat. Ambassador to the USSR, 1957–1960; Deputy Under-Secretary of State, Foreign Office, 1960–1964; Ambassador to France, 1965–1968.

Relf, Albert Edward (1874–1937). Cricketer. England all-rounder and off-spinner. Played thirteen Tests from 1903 to 1914. Later cricket coach at Wellington College, where he shot himself in a bout of depression.

Renan, Ernest (1823–1892). French philosopher and writer.

Rendall, Montague John (1862–1950). Teacher, Winchester, 1887–1924; headmaster from 1911. In retirement active in Royal Empire Society, League of Empire etc.

Repington, Colonel Charles à Court (1858–1925). Soldier, journalist, notorious rake and breaker of confidences.

Reynolds, Frances (1729–1807). Portrait artist, author of An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Taste (1789), sister of Sir Joshua Reynolds, friend of Samuel Johnson from c. 1756 until his death in 1784. Her Recollections of Doctor Johnson were not published in her lifetime.

Rhodes, Wilfred (1877–1973). Cricketer. All rounder for Yorkshire (1898–1930) and England (1899–1930). From 1930–1939 he was cricket coach at Harrow School.

Rhondda, Viscountess. Margaret Haig Thomas (1883–1958). Suffragette, author and publisher. Founded Time & Tide in 1920, recruiting writers including Rebecca West, Winifred Holtby, E M Delafield and RH-D.

Ribbentrop, Joachim von (1893–1946). Leading Nazi. Ambassador to London 1936–1938; foreign minister 1938–1945. Hanged for war crimes.

Richards, Sir Gordon (1904–1988). Jockey, widely regarded as one the best of all, and still the only one to have been knighted.

Richardson, Joanna (1925–2008). Prolific author. Publications include: Fanny Brawne: a biography, 1952; Théophile Gautier: his Life and Times, 1958; Edward FitzGerald, 1960; The Pre-eminent Victorian: a study of Tennyson, 1962; The Everlasting Spell: a study of Keats and his Friends, 1963; Edward Lear, 1965; George IV: a Portrait, 1966; Creevey and Greville, 1967; Princess Mathilde, 1969; Verlaine, 1971; Enid Starkie, 1973; Stendhal: a critical biography, 1974; Victor Hugo, 1976; Zola, 1978; Baudelaire, 1994.

Richardson, Peter Edward (1931–1917). England cricketer (opening bat, l. h.) 1956–1963.

Richardson, Sir Ralph David (1902–1983). Actor. One of the leading English actors of the mid–20th century along with Gielgud and Olivier.

Richardson, Tom (1870–1912). Cricketer. Outstanding fast bowler. Died suddenly aged 41; believed at the time to have committed suicide but now thought to have died from heart failure.

Riddell, Anne (1924–). Daughter of Captain Sir Walter Robert Buchanan Riddell, and the Hon Rachel Beatrice Lyttelton, GWL's sister.

Ridler, Vivian Hughes (1913–2009). Printer to the University of Oxford, 1958–1978

Ridley, Ursula née Lutyens (1904–1967). Married Matthew White Ridley, Viscount Ridley (1902–1964) in 1924.

Roberts, Cecil Edric Mornington (1892–1976). Author. Published many works between 1912 and 1974, including five volumes of autobiography.

Roberts, Frederick Sleigh (1832–1914). Field Marshal Lord Roberts of Kandahar.

Roberts, Sir Sydney Castle (1887–1966). Secretary of the Cambridge University Press, 1922–1948. Master of Pembroke College, 1948–1958. Vice-chancellor, 1949–1951.

Robertson, E Arnot, (Lady Turner) (died 1961). Writer, broadcaster and lecturer. Publications include: Cullum, 1928; Three Came Unarmed, 1929; Four Frightened People, 1931; Ordinary Families, 1933; Thames Portrait, 1937; Summer's Lease, 1940; The Signpost, 1943; Devices and Desires, 1954; Justice of the Heart, 1958; The Spanish Town Papers, 1959.

Robertson, Sir Dennis Holme (1890–1963) Economist. Professor of Economics, University of London, 1939–1944; Professor of Political Economy, University of Cambridge, 1944–1957.

Robertson, Tom (1829–1871). Irish playwright, reputedly the first 'realist' playwright in Britain. Greatly influenced both W S Gilbert and Bernard Shaw.

Robertson, Sir William Robert (1860–1933). Chief of the Imperial General Staff 1916–1918. The first British soldier to rise from private soldier to Field Marshal.

Robeson, Frederick Eden (1870–1964). Eton master, 1889–1925. In command of the Officers Training Corps, 1911–1917.

Robins, Elizabeth (1862–1952). American-born actress, playwright, novelist, and feminist who settled in England from 1888. In 1909 she met Octavia Wilberforce to whom she provided financial and moral support to enable her to qualify as a physician. Elizabeth Robins in her old age was looked after by Dr Wilberforce.

Robinson, Henry Crabb (1775–1867). Journalist and diarist. His journals are valued for their extensive information his literary friends Lamb, Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Southey.

Robsart, Amy (1532–1560). Wife of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester. She died in controversial and mysterious circumstances.

Rockefeller, John Davison (1839–1937). American industrialist and philanthropist.

Rogers, Samuel (1763–1855). Poet, known to contemporaries for his sarcasm and acid wit.

Rolland, Romain (1866–1944). French writer and pacifist.

Rosebery, Lord: Archibald Philip Primrose (1847–1929). 5th Earl of Rosebery, Liberal politician; Prime Minister 1894–95.

Ross Williamson, Hugh (1901–1978). Journalist and (1943–1955) Anglican priest.

Ross, Alan John (1922–2001). Poet; cricket correspondent of The Observer from, 1953. Publications include; Australia 55, 1956; Through the Caribbean, 1960; (ed) Selected Poems of Lawrence Durrell, 1977.

Rothenstein, Sir William (1872–1945), Painter and writer on art. Married 1899, Alice Mary Knewstub (1867–1957).

Rothermere: Esmond Cecil Harmsworth (1898–1978), second Viscount Rothermere. Proprietor of The Daily Mail and other newspapers.

Roughead, William (1870–1952). Scottish lawyer and chronicler of classic trials and crimes (mostly murders). Dorothy Sayers called him 'the best showman that ever stood before the door of a chamber of horrors.'

Rouse, Edward Peake ('Pecker') (1835–1926). Eton master 1861–1901. Mathematician.

Routh, (Christopher) Richard Nairne (1896–1976). Eton master (history and classics master 1923–1957, and house master, 1933–1949. Later curator of Charlecote Park.

Rowse, Alfred Leslie (1903–1997). Shakespearean scholar, author, editor.

Ruskin, John (1819–1900). Author, poet, art critic and social reformer. A man of famously strong opinions.

Russell of Killowen. Three generations of judges have held this title: Charles Arthur Russell, 1832–1900; his son, Francis Xavier Joseph, 1867–1946; and the latter's son, Charles Ritchie Russell, 1908–1986. GWL is probably referring to the first (Lord Chief Justice 1894–1900), who was famous for his cold and forbidding manner.

Russell, Bertrand Arthur William (1872–1970). Third Earl Russell. Philosopher, journalist, political campaigner, and distinctive-voiced broadcaster.

Russell, Conrad George Edward (1878–1947). Civil servant, farmer, naturalist and businessman.

Russell, Leonard (1906–1974). Literary Editor of The Sunday Times from 1945.

Rutherford, John Walter (1929–). Australian cricketer. Opening batsman, noted for his defensive play. Selected for the 1956 tour to England, and played against MCC at Lord's, scoring a laborious 98.

Rutherford, Dame Margaret (1892–1972). Actress. As well as Miss Prism, her notable roles included Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit and Mrs Danvers in Rebecca.

Ryan, (Alfred) Patrick (1900–1972). Journalist. Joined The Times, 1947; retired as Assistant Editor and Literary Editor, 1968.

Rylands, George Humphrey Wolferstan ('Dadie') (1902–1999). Literary scholar and stage director. Fellow of King's College, Cambridge from 1927. Compiled the Shakespeare anthology The Ages of Man in 1939, later an immensely successful one-man show by John Gielgud. Directed gramophone recordings of the entire Shakespeare canon.