Andrew Clark (priest) facts for kids
Reverend Dr Andrew Clark (born June 7, 1856 – died March 24, 1922) was an Anglican minister. He was also a very busy editor of old books and historical writings. Today, he is best known for his long diary about the First World War.
Life of Andrew Clark
Andrew Clark was born in Dollarfield, near Dollar, Scotland. He went to the University of St Andrews and then the University of Oxford. He started at Balliol College but then won a scholarship to Lincoln College in 1876. He studied classics, like ancient Greek and Roman history, and did very well, graduating in 1879.
In 1880, he became a Fellow at Lincoln College. He was ordained as a priest in 1884. He worked as a chaplain at Lincoln College and as a vicar for two churches in Oxford: All Saints and St Michael at the North Gate. In 1894, he moved to Great Leighs, Essex, to become a parish priest. Lincoln College helped him get this job.
While in Oxford, Clark started editing many books for the Oxford Historical Society. These included records of Oxford University and the History of the City of Oxford by Anthony Wood. He also edited books for the Early English Text Society, like old English registers from Oseney Abbey. In 1893, he visited Shirburn Castle to study old songs and poems from the time of Queen Elizabeth I. This led to his book The Shirburn ballads, 1585–1616. He also edited Aubrey's Brief Lives in 1898. His work on these old writings helped him understand how important everyday stories and rumors were. This led him to write his most famous work: his diary about living through World War I in Essex.
Even though he was in Oxford when World War I started in 1914, he decided to keep a detailed diary. He called it "Echoes of the Great War." His diary describes what the war was like in his village in rural Essex. It also records the activities of his friends and family, and the rumors about the war. The full diary has 92 volumes and is kept at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. A shorter version was published as Echoes of the Great War in 1985.
Besides his diary, Clark also collected newspaper clippings during the war. He titled this collection 'English Words in Wartime'. These are also kept at the Bodleian Library. He also wrote some of his own books, such as The Colleges of Oxford (1891) and A Bodleian Guide for Visitors (1906). Clark also wrote articles for a local magazine called the Essex Review.
Works
- Memoirs of Nathaniel, Lord Crewe (1893)
- The Colleges of Oxford: their history and traditions (1891)
- Lincoln (1898)
- 'Brief Lives', chiefly of Contemporaries, set down by John Aubrey, between the Years 1669 & 1696 (1898)
- The Life and Times of Anthony Wood: Antiquary, of Oxford, 1632–1695 (1900)
- The Shirburn ballads, 1585–1616 (1907)
- The English Register of Oseney Abbey (1907)
Contributions to the DNB
Clark wrote articles for the Dictionary of National Biography about people like:
- Anthony Wood
- William Bright
- Drummond Percy Chase
- William Ince
- Robert Campbell Moberly
- Wentworth Webster
