thumb|right|200px|Keigwin (right) with [[A. E. J. Collins at Clifton College, about 1902]]

Richard Prescott Keigwin ( ; 8 April 1883 – 26 November 1972) was an English schoolmaster, sportsman, translator, and author. He played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, the Marylebone Cricket Club, Essex, and Gloucestershire, and hockey for Essex and England.

After teaching at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, he was a naval officer during the First World War, then a master at Clifton College, and was notable for his translations from the work of Hans Christian Andersen.

Early life

Keigwin was born in Lexden in Essex and educated at Clifton College, Bristol, in Watson's House. While there, he partnered A. E. J. Collins in the school racquets pair and was also the school racquets captain. He also captained the school cricket XI of 1902, in which Collins also played.

He then joined Peterhouse, Cambridge,

where in March 1903 he was runner-up at the Cambridge University's Freshmen's Lawn Tennis Tournament, losing in the final in two straight sets to the future Wimbledon champion Tony Wilding without winning a game.

He represented Cambridge University at cricket, rackets, soccer, and hockey, and also played for the Marylebone Cricket Club.

Keigwin's best bowling figures in first-class cricket were 8/79 against Sussex in 1903. A year later, he scored his only first-class hundred, for Cambridge against Warwickshire.

In 1906 he graduated BA in the Classics and Modern Languages Tripos, later promoted by seniority to MA.

After leaving Cambridge, Keigwin taught modern languages at the Royal Naval College, Osborne.

thumb|The grave of R. P. Keigwin in the churchyard of St Mary, [[Polstead, Suffolk]]

Keigwin died at Polstead, Suffolk, and is buried there in St Mary's churchyard.

Published works

  • Lanyard Lyrics (1914)
  • Lyrics for Sport (1917)

Keigwin was a noted translator of Danish into English:

  • Four Tales from Hans Andersen (1935)
  • Kaj Munk, Playwright, Priest and Patriot (1944)
  • The Jutland Wind (1944)
  • In Denmark I Was Born (1948)
  • Denmark, Land of Beauty (1950)
  • Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen (3 volumes, 1950)
  • Tales the Moon Can Tell by Andersen (1955)
  • Heinemann's Illustrated Hans Andersen Series (1955)
  • Seven Tales from Hans Christian Andersen (1961)
  • Five Plays (1964)
  • The Ugly Duckling by Andersen (1973)
  • The Snow Queen: A Story in Seven Parts by Andersen (1975)
  • 80 Fairy Tales by Andersen (1976)

Keigwin also contributed to Centenary Essays on Clifton College (1962).

References

  • Full list of his published work at jisc.ac.uk

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