Memorial to Alexander Francis Kirkpatrick in Ely Cathedral

Alexander Francis Kirkpatrick (25 June 1849 – 22 January 1940) was Regius Professor of Hebrew at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

(1882–1903) and the third Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge (1898–1907).

Life

Kirkpatrick was born at

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, only son (with three daughters) of Rev. Francis Kirkpatrick, and was educated at Haileybury and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. He also served as Canon of Ely (1882–1903), Dean of Ely (1906 -1936), Examining Chaplain to the

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

(1895–1903) and General Editor for

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

and

Apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

of the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (1892–1929), to which he contributed the commentaries on 1 and 2 Samuel and the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

. In his introduction to the book of Psalms, he observed that "they repeat the whispers of the Spirit of God, they reflect the very light of the Eternal Wisdom". In 1884, Kirkpatrick married Julia Mary (1858-1943), daughter of Rev. J. Pemberton Bartlett, rector of Exbury, Hampshire. They had five sons and a daughter.Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 15th edition, ed. H. Pirie-Gordon, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1937, p. 2615

References

Regius Professors of Hebrew (Cambridge) 1849 births 1940 deaths People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Masters of Selwyn College, Cambridge Deans of Ely Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Lady Margaret's Professors of Divinity {{UK-academic-bio-stub