Nevill Henry Kendal Aylmer Coghill

    Nevill Henry Kendal Aylmer Coghill was born on 19 April 1899.1 He was the son of Sir Egerton Bushe Coghill, 5th Bt. and Elizabeth Hildegarde Augusta Somerville.2 He married Elspeth Nora Harley, daughter of Richard James Harley, on 24 March 1927.1 He and Elspeth Nora Harley were divorced in 1933.1 He died on 6 November 1980 at age 81.1

    He was educated at Haileybury College, Haileybury, Hertfordshire, EnglandG.1 He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery.1 He fought in the First World War between 1917 and 1919.1 He graduated from Exeter College, Oxford University, Oxford, Oxfordshire, EnglandG, in 1922 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)1 He graduated from Exeter College, Oxford University, Oxford, Oxfordshire, EnglandG, in 1925 with a Master of Arts (M.A.)1 He was a Fellow between 1925 and 1967 at Exeter College, Oxford University, Oxford, Oxfordshire, EnglandG.1 He was Merton Professor of English Literature between 1957 and 1966 at Oxford University, Oxford, Oxfordshire, EnglandG.1 He edited various Chaucer editions and co-adapted The Canterbury Tales for the stage.1 Child of Nevill Henry Kendal Aylmer Coghill and Elspeth Nora Harley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevill_Coghill

Nevill Henry Kendal Aylmer Coghill (19 April 1899 – 6 November 1980) was an English literary scholar, known especially for his modern English version of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Life

His father was Sir Egerton Coghill, 5th Baronet.

Coghill was educated at Haileybury, and read English at Exeter College, Oxford. He became a fellow of the college and there is a small bust of him in the college chapel. He served in the Great War after 1917. In 1948, he was made Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College. He was Merton Professor of English Literature in the University of Oxford from 1957 to 1966. He died in November 1980.

His Chaucer and Langland translations were first made for BBC radio broadcasts. He was well known during his time as a theatrical producer and director in Oxford; he is noted particularly as the director of the Oxford University Dramatic Society 1949 production of The Tempest. He was an associate of the literary discussion group "The Inklings" with other famous Oxford Dons such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, as well as Oxford alumnus Owen Barfield.

In 1968, he collaborated with Martin Starkie to co-write the West-End and Broadway musical Canterbury Tales. The musical was a great success internationally, receiving five Tony nominations. In 1973, the same team collaborated on a sequel 'The homeward Ride' comprising more of Chaucer's Tale. To date, this has been premiered only in Australia.

In a memoir, Reynolds Price writes:

Neville himself was born in 1899, served in the First War, married, fathered a daughter, then separated from his wife and lived a quietly homosexual life thereafter. He later spoke to me of several romances with men, but he apparently never established a residence with any of them; and until his retirement from Oxford, he always lived in his college rooms.

Works

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevill_Coghill#Works