Posted by Peter Ceresole on May 13, 2003 at 21:55:19 from 80.177.22.49 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Re: Dick School - references ROMAN posted by Robert Hill on May 10, 2003 at 21:35:41:
Robert Hill wrote:
"I've found a quote in WH chapter 3, 'Father and mother have gone to Egypt,
to dig up remains.' This, together with the Roman Wall reference,
confirms that he worked on both ancient Egypt and Roman Britain."
I'm not sure that it does. The Callums were at a conference "upon the Roman Wall" and sent a letter from Carlisle. It rather sounds as though Carlisle and Hadrian's wall may have been the location for the conference, not necessarily its subject. At the time, Prof Callum is an active Egyptologist- field trips to Egypt were much more expensive in money and time then than they are now so he would have been reasonably eminent in his field. Unlikely to be working at the same time on the Romans in Britain.
This might tie in with the Euston connection- the School of Oriental and African Studies is in Bloomsbury, just down the road from University College, and it has a school of archeology. I'm not sure when it moved there, but it would probably have been there in the '20s. Similarly the reference to "University" buildings rather than to a college would make sense as the London University main admin and student union buildings are there too. Again, I'm not sure of the exact extent of them in the '20s as the present complex is a superb example of '30s design by Holden. But it all seems to fit; the Ds' father as a lecturer, maybe promoted professor, at the SOAS.