Cripps, Arthur Shearly

(1869-1952)

   Cripps spent 50 years as an Anglican priest in what is now Zimbabwe. Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, he studied modern history at Oxford and joined the Christian Social Union, whose members exposed exploiting employers. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1893 and served as assistant curate at Ickleham in Sussex. In 1897, inspired by Olive Schreiner's book Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland (1897) in which she attacks Cecil Rhodes and his Chartered Company, he joined the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Zimbabwe (Mashonaland). His book Africa for Africans was published in 1927. Some of his other publications: Primavera, 1890 (poetry). Titania and Other Poems, 1900. The Black Christ, 1902 (poetry). Lyra Evangelistica: Missionary Verses of Mashonaland, 1909. Lake and War: African Land and Water Verses, 1917. Africa: Verses, 1939. Some of his poems: "An Easter Hymn," "Les Belles Roses sans Mercie," "Missa Viatoris."

   Sources: Biography of Arthur Shearly Cripps, Zimbabwe, Anglican priest (http://www.dacb.org/stories/zimbabwe/cripps_arthur.html). The Dust Diaries, Sheers, Owen. Houghton Mifflin, 2004 (http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/booksellers/press_release/sheers/). The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. Oxford University Press, 1971. Literary map of Africa, Southern Africa - Zimbabwe (http://web.udl.es/usuaris/m0163949/zimbabwe.htm).