Arthur John Alfred Waldock (26 January 1898 – 14 January 1950),[1] generally referred to as A. J. A. Waldock, was an Australian academic, professor of English Literature at Sydney University.
History
editWaldock was born in Hinton, New South Wales, the only son of Charlotte Waldock, née Godfrey, and Arthur John Waldock, Baptist minister.[2]
He was educated at Sydney High School and the University of Sydney, graduating BA, with first-class honours in English literature and history, in 1918. He briefly taught English Literature at the Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore).[1]
He was appointed instructor at the Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay on 1 October 1918, resigned 31 March 1919, acknowledging cardiac problems.[3]
In 1919 he became a lecturer in English at Sydney University, and gained his MA in 1925.
In 1934 he succeeded John Le Gay Brereton as professor of English Literature in the Chair of English Literature. Both Brereton and Waldock had been students of Professor Sir Mungo William MacCallum.[4]
Last days
editWaldock was visiting his father in Canberra when he fell ill, and returned to Sydney, where he was admitted to St Luke's hospital on 10 January 1950. He died following surgery.[2] His remains were interred at the Northern Suburbs Cemetery.
Publications
edit- Thomas Hardy and the Dynasts[4]
- Hamlet: A Study in Critical Method (Cambridge, 1931)
- – "The wisest criticism of Hamlet that has yet appeared" – John Dover Wilson[5]
- James Joyce and Others (London, 1937)
- Studies of English Writers
- Paradise Lost and Its Critics (Cambridge, 1947)
- Sophocles the Dramatist (Cambridge, 1951)
References
edit- ^ a b K. J. Cable (2002). Australian Dictionary of Biography: Waldock, Arthur John Alfred (1898–1950). National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- ^ a b "Death of Professor Waldock". The Canberra Times. Vol. 24, no. 6, 805. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 16 January 1950. p. 2. Retrieved 5 September 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Waldock, Arthur John Alfred BA". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- ^ a b "Professor of English". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 30, 090. New South Wales, Australia. 12 June 1934. p. 8. Retrieved 5 September 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Hamlet's Play". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 30, 614. New South Wales, Australia. 15 February 1936. p. 12. Retrieved 5 September 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
External links
editShortly before his death, Professor Waldock was commissioned to write three articles for the Sydney Morning Herald: