Martial Rose

Martial Rose (9 August 1922 – 31 January 2021) was an English educator and historian.

Early life and education Rose was born in 1922. Raised in London, he attended elementary school in Camberwell, then gained a scholarship to attend Christ's Hospital, Horsham. After wartime service in London and in Swansea, he attended King's College, Cambridge from 1946 to 1950 where he received an MA.

Career Upon leaving King's College, he took up a post at Leyton County High School for Boys in London.

Bretton Hall College (1952–1965) From 1952 to 1965, Martial Rose was a lecturer at Bretton Hall College of Education in Yorkshire. The production of the plays was considered by Rose, as well as other members of the college community, an enterprise that "was to unite the College in one massive undertaking." After reading a review of his production in the Manchester Guardian, Bernard Miles wrote to Rose with the idea of opening his Mermaid Theatre with this version of the plays.

In 1961, Martial Rose became Head of Education at Bretton Hall, as a Senior Tutor.

For nearly two decades he facilitated the growth in student numbers as well as physical facilities. Under the auspices of the Council for National Academic Awards, Rose helped King Alfred's reinvent itself from an institution dedicated to training teaching to a robust liberal arts college offering a diverse variety of programs and Bachelor's degrees.

Post retirement years (1984–2021) After his retirement in 1984, Rose remained in close contact with many former students and colleagues.

Publications A specialist in English Literature and Drama, in 1961 Rose published the standard edition of the medieval cycle of the Wakefield Mystery Plays.

In 1970 he published a biography of E. M. Forster.

In 1981 he authored A History of King Alfred's College, Winchester 1840-1980. Arguably the pivotal figure himself in the making of what would become the University of Winchester, he was also concerned to set the record straight about its past and the different stages in the college's development.

In retirement in Norfolk, he wrote publications on the history of the town and parish of Dereham where he lived as well as notable people associated with the region, among them George Borrow, William Cowper, and Sir John Fenn, first editor of the Paston Letters. He also wrote books on the distinctive vault carvings and misericord of Norwich Cathedral and on the roof bosses in the chantry chapel of St Helen's Church in the Great Hospital, Norwich. Among these was Stories in Stone featuring the photographs of Julia Hedgecoe.

In 2003 he produced a biography of the actress Dame Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, contemporary of John Gielgud, Edith Evans, and Laurence Olivier.

Personal life and death Martial Rose married Heather Millar in the summer of 1953, shortly after joining Bretton Hall College. They had two children.

He died after a short illness on 31 January 2021 at home in Norfolk.

Selected works

A Crowning Glory. The Vaulted Bosses in the Chantry Chapel of St Helen’s, the Great Hospital, Norwich. Dereham, 2006. The Parish Church of All Saints, Swanton Morley. Church Guide. Swanton Morley, 2005. Forever Juliet. The Life and Letters of Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, 1891-1992. Dereham, 2003. The Parish Church of St Nicholas, East Dereham. Church Guide. Dereham, 2002. The Norwich Apocalypse. The Cycle of Vault Carvings in the Cloisters of Norwich Cathedral. Norwich, 1999. The Seven Sacrament Font in St Nicholas Church, East Dereham. Dereham, 1997. The Misericords of Norwich Cathedral. Dereham, 1994. King Alfred’s College, Winchester. A Decade of Change, 1980-1990. Winchester, 1990. The Rev Benjamin John Armstrong, Vicar of East Dereham, 1850-1888. Dereham, 1987. George Borrow. A Vignette. Dereham, 1987. A History of King Alfred’s College, Winchester, 1840-1980. Chichester, 1981. The Development of Drama in Higher Education. Winchester, 1979. E.M. Forster. London, 1970. Stories in Stone. The Medieval Roof Carvings of Norwich Cathedral. Norwich, 1970. The Wakefield Mystery Plays. Norton, 1969. William Cowper. A Vignette. Dereham, nd. Sir John Fenn of East Dereham. The First Editor of the Paston Letters. Dereham, nd.