Roy Ridley

Maurice Roy Ridley (January 25, 1890, Orcheston St Mary –June 12, 1969) was a writer and poet, Fellow and Chaplain of Balliol College, Oxford. He was a model for the fictional character Lord Peter Wimsey.

Life

Ridley was educated at Clifton and Balliol College, Oxford.^[1] Dorothy L. Sayers based the physical description of her fictional character Lord Peter Wimsey on that of Ridley after seeing him read his poem "Oxford" at the Encaenia ceremony in July 1913. (The poem went on to win the Newdigate Prize.)

From 1920 to 1945 Ridley was a Fellow and Tutor of Balliol. Ridley spent 1930-1 as a visiting professor at Bowdoin College. He was a Lecturer at Bedford College from 1948.^[1]

Ridley was also reputedly the only priest of the Church of England ever to celebrate mass while wearing a monocle.^{[citation needed]} Canadian author Robertson Davies refers to a cocktail (sherry with "a generous dollop" of gin) he drank at Balliol College, Oxford as "a Roy Ridley special."^{[citation needed]}

Works

• Studies in Three Literatures : English, Latin, Greek Contrasts and Comparisons. ISBN 0-313-20189-7

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Pine, L. G., ed., The Author's and Writer's Who's Who, 4th ed., 1960, p.330

Persondata
Name	Ridley, Roy
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Short description
Date of birth	1890
Place of birth
Date of death	1969
Place of death