Robert Havard
| Robert Havard | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Born | 15 March 1901 |
| Died | 17 July 1985 |
| Education | Keble College Queen's College |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Location | Oxford |
- "Dr U.Q. Humphrey
Made poultices of comfrey
If you didn't pay his bills
He gave you doses of squills" - ― J.R.R. Tolkien[1]
Dr. Robert Emlyn "Honest Humphrey" Havard was an Oxford-schooled physician. He was one of the Inklings, as well as a neighbour of J.R.R. Tolkien in his later life.
History[edit]
Havard was the son of an Anglican clergyman, and read Chemistry at Keble College,[2] followed by Medicine at Queen's College after a conversion to Catholicism ruled him out of attending the former.[3] After his studies, he worked in Leeds, where he married. He returned to Oxford in 1934.[2] He took over a medical practice with surgeries in Headington and St. Giles;[2] the latter was situated near the Eagle and Child.[4]
One of his patients was C.S. Lewis. It was Lewis who introduced Havard to the Inklings after a boat trip, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. Warren Lewis had bought a small boat, the Bosphorus, and the Lewis brothers planned a trip along the Thames with Hugo Dyson. The international political tension had Warren - a Major in the Royal Army Service Corps - transferred to Le Havre, and because the others did not want to cancel the trip, C.S. Lewis decided to bring his good friend Dr. Havard along as navigator. They had a pleasant time, as the trip went past the towns Godstow, Newbridge, Radcot, Lechlade and Inglesham - and naturally, the Inns. It was slightly overshadowed by the invasion of Poland, but after another dinner with Lewis and Dyson, Havard was introduced to the Inklings.[5] So, Havard also became the Tolkien family's doctor, having been asked by the Professor shortly after his introduction to the Inklings.[6] He became an appreciated family friend - as he was with the Lewis family, and often attended Thursday pub visits. He often drove the Inklings to country pubs.[7]
In 1943, Havard was called up for service in the Royal Navy, were he served as a medical officer. On his rare leaves, he came back to Oxford, now sporting a full red beard. This earned him the nickname The Red Admiral, to go along with his already existing nicknames Useless Quack and Honest Humphrey,[1] the latter courtesy of Hugo Dyson when he could not remember the doctor's name.[4] Tolkien managed to get Havard stationed at Oxford permanently, and he was put to work on a malaria research project.[1] Back in Oxford, Havard was among the first to read the outlines of what would become The Lord of the Rings,[8] and still a respected (though not very productive) member of the Inklings.
Tolkien became a close neighbour of Havard when he moved to 76 Sandfield Road: Havard, now a widower with five children,[2] lived at number 28.[9] They regularly attended church together, and with the Inklings fallen apart, Havard was the last of Tolkien's male companies.[10]
In 1968, Havard retired from the medical profession. He moved to the Isle of Wight and lost most contact with Tolkien, though he did visit him at Woodridings at least twice.[3] He died in 1985.[6]
In Tolkien's works[edit]
In The Notion Club Papers, Robert Havard is identified with Rupert Dolbear, a researchchemist "known to the Club as Ruthless Rufus".[11]
Bibliography[edit]
See also[edit]
- Meeting Colin Havard: An Inkling’s Son
- Robert 'Humphrey' Havard - Medical 'Inkling'
- How similar are Dolbear & 'Humphrey' Havard? John Havard's opinion
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Humphrey Carpenter, The Inklings, p. 177
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Humphrey Carpenter, The Inklings, p. 257
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: II. Reader's Guide, pp. 360-361
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Colin Duriez, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, pp. 82-3
- ↑ Humphrey Carpenter, The Inklings, pp. 67-9
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 David Bratman, "Humphrey Havard (1901-85)", in J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia (edited by Michael D.C. Drout), pp. 265-6
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 42 (dated January 12, 1941)
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 109 (dated July 31, 1947)
- ↑ Clyde S. Kilby, Tolkien and The Silmarillion, p. 9
- ↑ Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, p. 241
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Sauron Defeated, "Part Two: The Notion Club Papers: Foreword and List of Members", pp. 150, 159
