Peter Walsh obituary | Classics and ancient history
Other livesClassics and ancient history This article is more than 11 years oldObituaryPeter Walsh obituary
This article is more than 11 years oldMy father, who has died aged 89, was known as Peter to friends and family, and Gerard to his Lancashire relatives. As a combination of the two, PG Walsh, he made his name as a Latin scholar of international renown.
In many ways he was the product of his childhood. The dominant themes were poverty (his family of 11 shared a two-up, two-down house in Accrington, Lancashire) and religion. Local folklore had it that "the Walshes ate religion with their bread and butter" and his youth gave him a Catholic faith that never left him.
He was of the generation of working-class intellectuals who were able to advance via awards of different sorts – first to Preston Catholic College and then, with a county scholarship, to Liverpool University. He took a first, served in the RAF and military intelligence in Palestine and Italy, then taught at University College Dublin.
There, as elsewhere, he showed a remarkable capacity for academic graft. At Edinburgh University he published the two books that made his name – Livy (1961) and The Roman Novel (1970) – both, in their time, definitive. He was awarded a personal professorship at Edinburgh, which led to him becoming professor of humanity at the University of Glasgow. He dedicated himself increasingly to medieval authors, particularly religious texts – work that was one reason for his later receiving a papal decoration. At the same time he faced down the decline of classics in Scottish schools by organising residential courses for schoolchildren, many from tough comprehensives in the central belt.
In his retirement, he lived happily with Eileen, his wife of nearly 60 years. As professor emeritus he enjoyed new challenges, elegantly translating The Satyricon and other texts for Oxford World's Classics. He was thrilled that, just weeks before he died, Harvard published a handsome edition of his anthology of Latin hymns.
His work remained a comfort in his final years as he suffered from Parkinson's disease, a condition he bore without complaint. Whether as PG, Peter or Gerard – or as dad or granddad – he was highly regarded and deeply loved.
He is survived by me and my siblings, Tony, Patricia, John and David; and 18 grandchildren.
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