John Richard Clark Hall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Richard Clark Hall
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| Born | 1855 Peckham, England
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| Died | 6 August 1931 (aged 75–76) Eastbourne, East Sussex, England
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| Education | Gray's Inn University of London |
| Occupation | Author, barrister |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Ann Elizabeth Symes |
| Children | 4, including Wilfrid |
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John Richard Clark Hall (born 1855 – died 6 August 1931) was a British expert in Old English and a lawyer. He worked for the Local Government Board in Whitehall. Hall became a lawyer in 1896 and a main clerk two years later.
Hall's book A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary was published in 1894. It became very popular and is still printed today. His 1901 translation of Beowulf was the tenth one in English. It was known as "Clark Hall" and was a key way to understand the poem until the 1960s. Later versions of this translation included a special essay by J. R. R. Tolkien. Hall also worked on another Beowulf translation in 1914. He also translated and collected papers by Knut Stjerna about the poem into a 1912 book.
In his later years, Hall wrote books about Christian topics. One of his books, Is Our Christianity a Failure?, was published in 1928. A magazine called The Spectator said it was a "layman's attempt to express and defend his religion".
Contents
Early Life and Education
John Richard Clark Hall was born in 1855 in Peckham, near London. He was the only son of James John Hall, who was a main clerk at the Custom House, City of London. His father had also worked in the Tea and East India Department of HM Customs. John grew up in a family that believed in old-fashioned Tory (conservative) ideas and strong church beliefs.
He spent parts of his childhood in Peckham. There, he met his lifelong friend, Herbert Tingle. They created a "brick world" using blocks. This world had railways, elections, and even newspapers. By 1919, Hall still had almost 200 documents from this imaginary world. These included newspapers, election results, and even postage stamps. They also had a toy printing press. They printed pamphlets so well that some of them are now in the British Library.
Hall went to school at the Collegiate School in Peckham and St Olave's Grammar School in Southwark. When he was about 16, he won second prize in an essay contest. The contest was about "the duty of kindness to animals." By age 18, he had passed important exams from both Cambridge and Oxford universities.
In 1872 and 1873, Hall passed the Civil Service exams. He came in first place out of over 170 people. He then started working at the Local Government Board. On May 16, 1881, Hall joined Gray's Inn, a place where lawyers are trained. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of London in 1889. In 1891, he got a Master of Arts degree in English and French from the same university. By 1894, he had also earned a PhD. Hall became a lawyer in 1896. In November 1898, he became the main clerk at the Local Government Board.
Writing Career
Hall wrote seven books and several shorter pieces. He started writing shortly before he became a lawyer and continued almost until his death. His first two books, A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary and Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg: A Translation into Modern English Prose, quickly became very important. They each had four updated editions. Hall's third book was a translation of Swedish essays about Beowulf by Knut Stjerna. This book was also very influential. Hall's later works were about Christian themes.
A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
Hall's dictionary of Old English was called For the Use of Students. It quickly became very popular after it was published in 1894. This book was released four years before the final part of An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary by Joseph Bosworth and Thomas Northcote Toller. Hall's dictionary helped fill a need for a full Old English dictionary. The Guardian newspaper wrote, "At last, we have a complete Anglo-Saxon dictionary."
In the first edition, Hall tried to make it easier to find words. He listed them as they were spelled in common Old English texts. However, critics noted this caused some confusion. Hall changed this in the second edition in 1916. He admitted his first method was "unscientific." From then on, he used the normal way of listing words. Hall also started to show words found only in poems. He also added links to similar words in the Oxford English Dictionary. Reviewers said this second edition was much better.
A third, much bigger edition of the dictionary came out in 1931. Francis Peabody Magoun said it was "a completely new edition." He also called it "a notable monument" to Hall, who died that same year. A fourth edition was printed in 1960. It included extra notes by Herbert Dean Meritt. This version is still being printed by the University of Toronto Press as of 2021.
Beowulf Translations
In 1901, Hall published a direct translation of Beowulf. This was the tenth English translation of the famous poem. It became the main "study guide" for Beowulf. Many people praised it. The Manchester Guardian said it was "decidedly better" than other translations. Chauncey Brewster Tinker said it was a "useful collection of Beowulf material." However, The Athenæum magazine felt it was too literal and didn't fully capture the poem.
A corrected second edition came out in 1911. The English expert Allen Mawer said it was "probably the best working translation that we have." Later editions, published after Hall's death, were edited by Charles Leslie Wrenn. These editions included an essay by J. R. R. Tolkien called "Prefatory Remarks on Prose Translation of 'Beowulf'". Hall's translation, known simply as "Clark Hall," was still the preferred "cheat sheet" at Oxford University in the 1960s. A 2011 study of Beowulf translations called it "one of the most enduringly popular."
In 1912, Hall translated several papers by Knut Stjerna into a book. The book was called Essays on Questions Connected with the Old English Poem of Beowulf. Hall wrote that these essays collected all the important archaeological findings about Beowulf from Scandinavian countries. These papers were originally in Swedish and hard to find. Hall's translation made them available to many more people.
Hall also made a metrical (poetic) translation of Beowulf in 1914. W. G. Sedgefield, another Beowulf translator, wrote that Hall tried a very difficult task. He felt that Hall did not fully succeed in making a poetic version. Sedgefield suggested that Hall's excellent prose version was better. This poetic translation did not have a second edition, but it was republished in 2014.
| Beowulf 229–234 | Clark Hall's 1901 prose | Clark Hall's 1914 verse | Roy Liuzza's 2013 verse |
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þā of wealle geseah | weard Scildinga, |
Then from the rampart the watchman of the |
Then the Ward of the Scyldings, | who had as his office |
When from the wall the Scyldings' watchman, |
Christian Writings
Hall's obituary called him a "protestant reformer." Several of his writings were about Christianity. In 1919 and 1923, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge published two of his works. One of these, Herbert Tingle, and Especially His Boyhood, was a memoir about his lifelong friend, Herbert Tingle. It included an introduction by Bishop of Oxford Hubert Burge. The book was also sold as a guide for educators. It showed how Tingle, with only one year of formal schooling, taught himself using toys and games. A reviewer in School magazine wrote that Tingle's independence in learning would "delight the soul of Henry Adams."
Later, Hall's books focused more directly on Christian themes. In 1928, he published Is Our Christianity a Failure?. The Contemporary Review called it an "earnest, fair-minded book." The Spectator described it as a "layman's attempt to express and defend his religion."
Works
Books
- A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary: For the Use of Students. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co.. 1894. OCLC 1045979207.
- Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg: A Translation into Modern English Prose. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co.. 1901. OCLC 1045979207.
- Essays on Questions Connected with the Old English Poem of Beowulf. Coventry: Viking Club. 1912. OCLC 1045979207.
- Beowulf: A Metrical Translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1914. OCLC 1045979207.
- Herbert Tingle, and Especially His Boyhood. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 1919. OCLC 1045979207.
- The Church and the People. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 1923. OCLC 1045979207.
- Is Our Christianity a Failure?. London: George Allen & Unwin. 1928. OCLC 1045979207.
Articles
- "Beowulf, 1142–1145". Modern Language Notes 25 (3): 95–96. March 1910. doi:10.2307/2916550.
- "A True Copy of a Letter Written by Jesus Christ". Notes and Queries 148 (23): 405–406. 6 June 1925. doi:10.1093/nq/148.23.405.
Other
- Glass, Ancient & Modern. London: Tingle & Hall. 1871. OCLC 1045979207.
Tingle & Hall
- Essays by Amateur Maniacs. London: Tingle & Hall. 1874. OCLC 560708585.
Personal Life
John Richard Clark Hall married Mary Ann Elizabeth Symes on November 29, 1883. They were married in Long Bredy, Dorset. They had four children, but only three lived to adulthood. These were Cecil Symes (born 1886), Irene Clark (born around 1886), and the insect expert Wilfrid John (born 1892).
Hall was a member of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society starting in 1910. He did not like the daily commuters in Peckham. He felt they changed the town from a quiet, polite suburb into a busy place.
Hall was in Switzerland when World War I started. He could not travel or talk to his friends for more than two weeks. In 1925, he wrote to a magazine called Notes and Queries. He wanted to know where an old paper came from. This paper claimed to be "A True Copy of a Letter written by Jesus Christ." Hall said his ancestors from Yorkshire had passed it down. He thought it looked like something a traveling seller might try to sell to people who didn't know better. One person who answered, Robert Priebsch, said it was a very old story. He believed it started in Southern Gaul or Northern Spain around the late 500s.
Hall died on August 6, 1931, in a nursing home in Eastbourne, East Sussex. His obituary mentioned his work at the Local Government Board. He left an estate worth about £16,762.
