My father, Kenneth Sprague Rothwell, was a Shakespearean Scholar and a Professor of English at The University of Vermont in Burlington. Witty, engaging and prone to recite poetry and Shakespeare, he was a joy to be around. “The Shouting Poet of Willard Street” was relied upon to have a prepared speech for every occasion.
Kenneth Rothwell was descended from The Carrolls and Maginley’s via my grandmother, Benita Maginley Buckel. My Great Grandmother, Mary Josephine Maginley Buckel, was the daughter of Benjamin Maginley and Mary Carroll. My father’s middle name, Sprague, comes from Mary Ann Sprague, wife of Barney Carroll and adoptive mother of Mary Carroll. My sister is named Mary Carroll and some in the family still refer to her using those two names.
Mary Josephine Maginley’s mother, Mary Carroll, died when the little girl was just 10 years old. She was raised by her grandparents, Barney Carroll and Mary Ann Sprague, who were living on a farm in Westchester Square, which is now in the Bronx. I’ve read that the family’s home was quite a meeting place for circus performers and theater people during the off-season. They ran a circus school in their alleged round ring barn (which I am trying to find proof of existence)
When we were younger, my Dad made us all cute notepads using the images of “Annie Carroll” and “Mary Carroll” found tucked away in memento boxes in our house.
My father was riotously funny and witty, yet very serious and formal. He was well-mannered and scholarly. He looked the part of the Professor with his beard and Brooks Brother’s clothing. Special occasions were always marked with a grandiose ‘Ode’, which my father would write, print out, read to you at the table and present to you a signed copy. They were dazzling and his performance was part impeccable and part silly. He had a booming, clear voice. “The Shaksperian Jester” is how someone along the way described Benjamin Maginley. It describes my father perfectly.
Professionally, my father’s work, research and writing was gravely serious and his contributed to modern Shakespeare appreciation is remarkable. He was an early advocate for Shakespeare on the Screen– TV, Video and Film. With the late Bernice Kliman, he created “The Shakespeare on Film Newsletter” in 1976, long before accessing this stuff was of any convenience in one’s home. The videos were not much more than filmed stage productions. He went onto write “Shakespeare on Screen: An International Filmography and Videography” and “A History of Shakespeare on Screen: A Century of Film and Television“.
Kenneth Sprague Rothwell’s Obituary on Legacy.com