John Clifford (1836–1923), Baptist Minister and Social Reformer

Biography

Born at Sawley in Derbyshire, Clifford was the son of Samuel Clifford, a machine worker, and his wife Mary (née Stenson). John began working in a lace factory in Beeston at the age of 11 and was baptised on 16 June 1851. He spent a period as a lay preacher in Nottingham before he began his studies at the Midland Baptist College iin Leicester in 1855. 

In October 1858, Clifford moved to London to begin a ministry at the Praed Street Baptist Church, a position he held until his retirement in 1915. Under his leadership, the congregation grew from around 60 when he arrived to over 1,000 by 1900, prompting a move to a new chapel at Westbourne Park. Clifford became a prominent national and international figure within the Baptist movement: he served as President of the Baptist Union in 1888 and 1899, and in 1905 was elected inaugural President of the Baptist World Alliance.

Clifford accepted the call to Praed Street on the condition that he would be able to study at University College, where he received the earned a BA (1861), BSc (1862), MA (1864), and LLB (1866), receiving honours in the study of the principles of legislation. Clifford had a particular interest in geology and was elected as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1879.

Clifford took the view that ‘All social problems are spiritual at heart’ and believed that Christianity was a social gospel that necessitated political activity. He supported workers in industrial disputes and campaigned against the South African War of 1899–1902. He is best remembered, however, for leading the Nonconformist response to the bill that became the Education Act of 1902. The bill proposed the abolition of all local school boards, which were elected by ratepayers, and allowed Nonconformists to control some schools, and for schools to come under the administration of local authorities. It also introduced, for the first time, public funding for Anglican and Roman Catholic schools. Clifford argued that, by forcing Nonconformist ratepayers to contribute to the provision of denominational schools, the legislation impinged upon freedom of conscience. 

In response, Clifford led a campaign of passive resistance, urging Nonconformists to either refuse to pay the rates prescribed or withhold the portion allocated to church schools. Between 1902 to 1905, magistrates’ summonses were issued to over 53,000 members of the National Passive Resistance League, and Nonconformist reaction to the Education Act became a significant factor in the Liberal Party’s overwhelming defeat of the Conservatives at the 1906 election. 

The National Gallery collection features several portraits of John Clifford.

Sources

• D.M. Thompson, ‘Clifford, John’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
• John Clifford, The New City of God: The Primitive Christian Faith as a Social Gospel. An Address from the Chair of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland, at the Autumnal Assembly in Huddersfield, October 3rd, 1888, London and Huddersfield [1888]
• Seth Koven, ‘One British Archive: Seeing the Rev. John Clifford Archives and the Gender of Passive Resistance’, Journal of British Studies, vol. 63 (2024), pp. 275–81