Robert Cox Clifton (1810–1861) was an English churchman, canon of

Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother ...

Life

Clifton was the son of a clergyman, for many years British chaplain at

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, and was born at

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

on 4 January 1810. The earlier part of his education was under his father at

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

. In 1830 he matriculated at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

. He proceeded B.A. in 1831 and M.A. in 1834, and took holy orders in 1833, at the hands of the bishop of Oxford. In 1833 he was elected Fellow of his college. Before taking his first curacy, which was in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, he spent some time in Oxford as a tutor. In 1837 he was appointed to the office of clerk in orders at the Manchester Collegiate Church, and on 6 December 1843 was elected to a fellowship by the collegiate chapter. When the church was elevated to cathedral dignity he became a canon. In 1843 he was instituted to the rectory of

Somerton Somerton may refer to: Places Australia * Somerton, New South Wales * Somerton Park, South Australia, a seaside Adelaide suburb ** Somerton Man, unsolved case of an unidentified man found dead in 1948 on the Somerton Park beach * Somerton, Victoria ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, a benefice he held with his Manchester preferment until his death. He took part in the administration of public charities and religious societies in Manchester, and was a trustee of

Owens College Owens may refer to: Places in the United States *Owens Station, Delaware *Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota *Owens, Missouri *Owens, Ohio *Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with the name * Owens Bro ...

, where his son

Robert Bellamy Clifton Robert Bellamy Clifton Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (13 March 1836 – 21 February 1921) was a British scientist. Academic career Clifton was educated at University College, London and St John's College, Cambridge where he studied under Sir ...

was for some time professor of experimental philosophy. He died at his rectory at Somerton on 30 July 1861, aged 51.

Works

He published sermons and pamphlets, among which are: * 'A Letter to the Rev. Dr. Hook on the subject of National Education' (1846); * 'The Collegiate Church of Manchester from its foundation in 1422 to the present time, with Observations on the proposed Bill for the Subdivision of the Parish of Manchester, and for the Appropriation of the Revenues of the Chapter' (1850).

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Clifton, Robert Cox 1810 births 1861 deaths English chaplains Clergy from Gloucester Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford 19th-century English Anglican priests English religious writers 19th-century English non-fiction writers