Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924). (Sherborne School Archives)
Headmaster of Sherborne Preparatory School c.1863-1880.
Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924) was born on 26 September 1826 at St Malo, Bretagne, France, son of Andre Clapin (1772-1861) and Susan Guille (1791-1860). From 1845 to 1850 he studied at St John’s College, Cambridge (BA 1850, MA 1863), and from 1854 to 1856 he attended the University of France (Bachelier ès Lettres 1856). In 1852 Alfred was appointed modern languages master at Sherborne School where he remained on the staff until his retirement in 1890. From c.1863 to 1880, he ran a preparatory department at the School, firstly in what is now the School Bursary in Hospital Lane and from 1872 to 1880 at Westbury House (now Wessex House), Westbury, Sherborne.
On 1 August 1861, Alfred was married at St Pancras, London, to Catharina Martha Saumarez Wallis (1833-1883), the youngest daughter of Colonel Frederic Stevens Wallis (d.1861) and Loveday Wallis (née Nance) of Guernsey and of Sandhill House, Calstock, Cornwall. They had five children: Katharine Loveday Clapin (1867-1959), Alfred Clifton Clapin (1869-1950), Edward Stanley Clapin (1871-1910), Mary Penrose Clapin (1872-1946), and Augusta Caroline Guille Clapin (1875-1956). Catharina died on 26 June 1883 at their home at Greenhill in Sherborne of Bright’s disease of the kidneys and valvular disease of the heart. On 8 January 1885 Alfred was married at St Cross, Winchester, to Charlotte Gale (1839-1901), daughter of Richard Christopher Gale of Winchester, Hampshire. Alfred retired in 1890 and moved to 24, Morton Crescent in Exmouth, Devon. He died on 16 January 1924 at Pencaswick Nursing Home in Exmouth, Devon, and was buried at St Margaret & St Andrew churchyard, Littleham, Devon.
Alfred was a prolific author and was also involved with a short-lived weekly periodical, The Abbot of Sherborne, written and produced by staff at Sherborne School from 24 June 1886 (no.1) to 13 January 1887 (no.31), copies of which are available in the Sherborne School Archives.
Alfred Charles Clapin’s Sherborne Tales (Sherborne, Chaffin & Son, 1888) is available in the Local Studies Library at the Dorset History Centre ref. 942.331 SH.
Alfred Clapin’s sketchbook, 1855-1915:
Cover of Alfred Charles Clapin’s sketchbook, 1855-1915
Inside front cover of Alfred Charles Clapin’s sketchbook. Inscribed: ‘A. Clapin, Sherborne, 1863, to M.P.C.’ [Mary Penrose Clapin (1872-1946) was A.C. Clapin’s daughter].
Piere d’Andras, Buchenstein, Tyrols. Monte Civica, Tyrol, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 1855.
Tyrol, Mauls, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1855.
Pest [Budapest, Hungary] by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1855.
Le Pest Blnan (?), by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), c.1855.
Headmaster’s garden, Sherborne School, Dorset (formerly the abbot’s fishpond) looking south, ‘pond filled up now’, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1854.
Landslide at (?), by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1859.
View from Berry Head, Brixham, Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1861. [Possibly on honeymoon?]
Berry Head (south view), Brixham, Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1861.
Abereau by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), August 1861. [Possibly honeymoon]
George Vaudin’s house at La Vaurocque, Sark, Channel Islands, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1862.
Pontchony by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), c.1862.
John Baker’s cottage at Albaston, Cornwall, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1862.
Sand Hill House (side view), Calstock, Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1862. [Sandhill was formerly the family estate of A.C. Clapin’s wife, Catharina Martha Saumarez Wallis (1833-1883), youngest daughter of the late Colonel Frederic Stevens Wallis (d.1861) and Loveday Wallis (née Nance)]
Sand Hill House, Calstock, Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1862. [Sandhill was formerly the family estate of A.C. Clapin’s wife, Catharina Martha Saumarez Wallis (1833-1883), youngest daughter of the late Colonel Frederic Stevens Wallis (d.1861) and Loveday Wallis (née Nance)]
Calstock church, Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 1862.
Home of J. Hitchin, Esq, St Nicholas, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 1863.
Handwritten notes by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1863: ‘Christopher Wallis, St Petrock, Bodmin; Rev. Hicks, Prison Chaplain; Harveys of Truro; Bullocks of Truro; Dickinson m. Jessie Wallis; J. Hitchins (d. Jean); Mary Mundy Old Inn Mullion; Trelowarren – Sir Ri. Vyvyan; Pophams Trevarno nr. Helston.’
Bodmin Vicarage (the Rev. J. Wallis), Bodmin, Cornwall by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1863.
The Old Inn (Mary Munday) at Mullion, Cornwall, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924) 1863.
Haydon church, Sherborne, Dorset, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 1864.
Beer Cliff entrance & quarry viewed from the sea, East Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1864.
Limestone quarry from sea, Beer Head Cliffs, East Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 1864.
Church and trees by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), c.1864.
Berry Head, Brixham, South Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1864.
From Seaton Cove, Beer Cliff, Beer, East Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 1864.
Corfe Castle, Dorset, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 1864..
Seaton, East Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), c.1864.
Tintagel, Cornwall, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1864.
From Boscastle, Cornwall, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 1864.
Trebarworth [possibly Trebarwith Strand, Cornwall], by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 1864.
Bathing Cove Torquay, South Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924) , c.1864.
The Hospital, Berry Head (Rev. Hogg), Brixham, South Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 1864.
The Hospital (Admiral Hogg), Berry Head, Brixham, South Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 1864.
The Castle, Dartmouth, South Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1864.
The Castle, Dartmouth, South Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1864.
Branscombe, East Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1864.
Trevarno, Cornwall, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 1864.
Landslip at Seaton, South Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), c.1864.
Castle Watermouth, North Devon, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), c.1864.
Corfe Castle, Dorset, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), c.1864.
Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight, by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924),1865.
Cracken Tor by Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 1915.
Written in red pen: ‘Scut Tor Rocks. July 1915. A.C.C.’ [Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924)].
Postcard of Seaton, White Cliff, sent by D.K.B. to the Rev. Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 24 Morton Crescent, Exmouth, from Seaton on 30 November, date stamped 30 November 1915.
Postcard of Seaton, White Cliff, sent by D.K.B. to the Rev. Alfred Charles Clapin (1826-1924), 24 Morton Crescent, Exmouth, from Seaton on 30 November, date stamped 30 November 1915. D.K.B. thanks Clapin for his letter and the ‘pretty little sketch’.
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![Watercolour sketch of Trebarworth [possibly Trebarwith Strand, Cornwall], by A.C. Clapin, 1864](https://oldshirburnian.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/031-Trebarworth-1864-by-AC-Clapin-1024x665.jpg)
