Clement Barksdale
Encyclopedia
Life
Barksdale was born at Winchcombe, Gloucestershire in November 1609. He received his earlier education in the Abingdon Grammar School, Berkshire. He entered Merton College, OxfordMerton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
, as ‘a servitor,’ in Lent term 1625, but removed shortly to Gloucester Hall (afterwards Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
), where he took his degrees in arts. He entered holy orders, and in 1637 acted as chaplain of Lincoln College
Lincoln College
Lincoln College may refer to:in Australia:* Lincoln College , a residential College of the University of Adelaidein New Zealand:* Lincoln University, New Zealand, formerly called Lincoln College...
. In the same year he proceeded to Hereford, where he became master of the free school, vicar-choral, and soon after vicar of All Hallows in that city. When the garrison of Hereford was taken by the parliamentary army in 1646, he retreated to Sudeley Castle
Sudeley Castle
Sudeley Castle is a castle located near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. It dates from the 10th century, but the inhabited portion is chiefly Elizabethan. The castle has a notable garden, which is designed and maintained to a very high standard. The chapel, St. Mary's Sudeley, is the burial...
by the intervention of the Chandos family. In this family he acted as chaplain during the opening years of the civil war
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
.
Later, he found shelter at Hawling in Cotswold, where he taught a private school with success and had several pupils of rank. It was here that he composed his ‘Nympha Libethris, or the Cotswold Muse, presenting some extempore Verses to the Imitation of yong Scholars,’ 1651. At the Restoration he was presented to the livings of Naunton, near Hawling, and of Stow-on-the-Wold in Gloucestershire. These he retained until his death in January 1687, in his seventy-ninth year, when (says Anthony à Wood) he left behind him ‘the character of a frequent and edifying preacher and a good neighbour.’