Donald Hawes: Scholar with an unmatched knowledge of Thackeray who was also an expert on Dickens and George Eliot

Donald Hawes perhaps knew more than anybody about William Makepeace Thackeray. He was also a noted authority on both Charles Dickens and George Eliot.

Born and raised in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, he retained its distinctive intonation. The son of an elementary school headmaster and church organist, he inherited his love and knowledge of music and opera. He attended Wisbech Grammar School and, following his teaching diploma at the College of St Mark and St John in Chelsea, he taught for many years at a secondary school in Southall, Middlesex.

During his spare time, he gained his BA (Hons) in English at Birkbeck College of London University, where he obtained his subsequent degrees. He was greatly influenced by Professor Geoffrey Tillotson (1905-1965) – his 19 entries to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography include those on Tillotson and his wife, Kathleen (1906-2001).

Hawes’ MA was a substantial study, still probably the best account, of the largely forgotten novelist Captain Frederick Marryat (1792-1848). His PhD (also under Tillotson) was on William Makepeace Thackeray: Thackeray’s literary criticism (1833-1847). He and Tillotson edited the Routledge Critical Heritage volume on Thackeray (1967). His profound knowledge of Thackeray and his work is also reflected in the innumerable bibliographical notes and accounts of current events in which Thackeray was involved. He contributed to the now defunct Thackeray Newsletter (1977-2002). He also edited the Penguin English Library edition of Pendennis (1972) and the World’s Classics edition of Henry Esmond (1991).

All Donald’s work was characterised by the use of primary materials and reliable bibliographical investigation. Perhaps his first love among the Victorians was Dickens, on whom he frequently lectured, and reflected in his Everyman edition of Barnaby Rudge (1996), his Who’s Who in Dickens (Routledge 1998), and his contribution to the Continuum Writers’ Lives Series, Charles Dickens (2007), as well as articles and notes in journals such as Dickens Studies Annual and The Dickensian, Notes & Queries. His accounts of radio broadcasts of Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot and others in such journals are a delight to read. His writing is distinctive, clear, unpretentious, free of jargon and succinct.

He was knowledgeable about Eliot and for nearly two decades wrote an annual narrative account of Eliot studies for the newsletter George Eliot-George Henry Lewes Studies. He also had a deep knowledge and love for Victorian painting. He loved language and puns and was a surprising addict of the Carry On films.

A regular judicious reviewer for The Times Higher Educational Supplement and other journals, and a familiar presence at London literary meetings, Hawes was appointed to what was the Regent Street Polytechnic (now the University of Westminster) in 1963. Swift promotion and a professorship led him to North London Polytechnic (now the University of North London) as Head of Languages and Literature, carrying a heavy administrative burden. Following early retirement, he lectured part-time at the University of Westminster, the Open University and elsewhere.

Seemingly a confirmed bachelor, he married a vivacious former student, Pitsa Epiphaniou, in 1968. Invariably dressed in a jacket and tie, kind and gentle, generous, with perfect manners, possessed of a somewhat laconic wit, Donald Hawes was a gentleman of integrity and discretion. He was a close friend for over 30 years and a wise counsellor during our weekly transatlantic phone calls, and meetings whenever I was in London.

WILLIAM BAKER

Donald Hawes, literary scholar: born 13 February 1929; married 1968 Pitsa Epiphaniou (one daughter); died 14 November 2015.