Sir Sydney Castle Roberts (3 April 1887 – 21 July 1966) was a British author, publisher and university administrator. He was a well-known and popular figure around Cambridge throughout his life, and was recognised as a publisher of skill and distinction.

Early years

Roberts was born in Birkenhead, the son of Frank Roberts, a civil engineer. He attended Brighton College and Pembroke College, Cambridge. During World War I, he served as a lieutenant in the Suffolk Regiment and was wounded in the Third Battle of Ypres.

Career

He was Secretary of Cambridge University Press from 1922 to 1948, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge from 1948 to 1958, Vice-Chancellor of University of Cambridge from 1949 to 1951, and Chairman of the British Film Institute from 1952 to 1956. He was an author, publisher and biographer and a noted Sherlockian, being president of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. According to Jon Lellenberg, Roberts is responsible for the popularisation of the Sherlockian game of criticism. In 1954 he held the Sandars Readership in Bibliography and his topic was "The evolution of Cambridge publishing. He was knighted in 1958. The National Portrait Gallery holds three photographic portraits of Roberts by Elliott & Fry, made in 1949.

Personal life

He married, firstly, Irene Wallis (died 1932), daughter of Arnold Joseph Wallis, Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. They had two daughters and a son. After her death, in 1938, he married a second time to Marjorie Dykes, widow of Dr Meredith Blake Robson Swann. Roberts was stepfather to Hugh Swann, cabinet maker to Queen Elizabeth II, and of Michael Swann, former chairman of the BBC. He died in Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

Publications