Midgley, Mary Beatrice (née Scrutton: 1919- )

Abstract

Mary Scrutton was born in London on 13 September 1919, the daughter of Tom Burton (a canon) and Evelyn Lesley Scrutton (née Hay). As an undergraduate from 1938 to 1942, she studied philosophy and classics at Somerville College, Oxford for her BA degree. After a brief stint as a civil servant (1942-3), Midgley taught classics at secondary school level in Berkshire and Bedford, and served for a period of time as secretary to the classicist Gilbert Murray. Her first university appointment, as lecturer in philosophy, was at the University of Reading from 1949 to 1950. She married Geoffrey Midgley (a university lecturer in philosophy) on 18 December 1950, moved to Newcastle, and became the mother of three sons. After the end of World War II, Midgley started a DPhil at Oxford on the psychology of Plotinus, but did not complete the degree. She returned to teaching in 1961, taking up a position as part-time lecturer in philosophy at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In 1967 she became a full-time lecturer, and in 1975, a senior lecturer, the post she held until retiring early from teaching in 1980 in order to concentrate on research and writing. Broadcasting has also occupied her over the years. In 1994 Midgley received an honorary DLitt degree from the University of Durham. She continues to live in Newcastle.