Percy Maxwell Wallace

“ Roberts, who held many minor educational offices, showed exceptional skill and tact as an organiser, inspired others with his own enthusiasm, perseverance, and breadth of outlook, and devoted himself unsparingly to the improvement of the educational opportunities of all classes. While he was a fervent liberal in general politics, his wide sympathy made him equally at home among the Northumbrian miners and in Cambridge common-rooms. ”

“ But Roberts was diverted from a pursuit in which he promised to achieve distinction by an ambition to organise and develop higher education among the classes that were at that time not touched by the universities. In 1881 he had become assistant and organising secretary to the syndicate at Cambridge which had been formed in 1873 to control the 'local lectures' or 'university extension' work. ”

“ Long a lecturer for the Gilchrist Educational Trust, he acted as its secretary from 1899 till his death, bringing the organisation to a high state of efficiency and inaugurating valuable developments. ”