Roderick Urwick Sayce (Q69122)

Prof. Roderick Urwick Sayce (1890-1970) is best known as the editor of the Powysland Club's Montgomeryshire Collections, 1930-1966, but he was also a prominent social anthropologist. He studied at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and, after being severely wounded in the First World War, lectured in Geography to demobilised soldiers at his former college. Returning to his pre-war studies, Sayce researched an MA thesis on `The hill-top camps of north Cardiganshire' which set new standards in its field. He never lost contact with his native Montgomeryshire, joining the Powysland Club in 1920, and for many years his academic expertise was influential in the Club's success. In 1921 he became lecturer in Geology and Geography at Natal University College in the University of South Africa, a post which allowed him to conduct a pioneering anthropological study of the region. He was appointed lecturer in Physical Anthropology and Material Culture at Cambridge University in 1927, during which period he became interested in the Scandinavian countries, and in 1935 he was appointed Keeper of the Victoria Museum at Manchester University, where he was subsequently awarded an Honorary MSc Degree and appointed Honorary Lecturer in Anthropology. Further appointments included President of the North West Federation of Museums and Art Galleries, 1941, and membership of the Council of the Museums Association, the Council of the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Council of the Folk-lore Society, and the Court of Governors of the National Museum of Wales. Sayce also held various offices within the British Association, as well as being an honorary member of the Irish Folklore Society, and a Fellow of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Anthropological Society. As well as his work with the Powysland Club, he served as a member of the editorial committee of the Cambrian Archaeological Society, and as editor of The Anthropological Journal, 1934-1936. He was elected vice-president of the Powysland Club following his retirement as editor of Montgomeryshire Collections, and died in Welshpool, his home town, in 1970.