Revd Alexander Radcliffe: A Clergyman Serving Church and County
Revd Alexander Radcliffe (1758–1825) was a Church of England clergyman whose ministry connected Titchfield and Fareham during the late Georgian period. The Clergy of the Church of England Database records him in ministry from the 1780s, and contemporary legislation identifies him specifically as Vicar of Titchfield.
His role extended beyond parish worship. In 1805 Radcliffe was named among the Hampshire commissioners responsible for administering duties and the land tax. The same list includes figures from the surrounding area, among them the Vicar of Fareham and George Purvis. He appears again as a commissioner in legislation of 1821.
This gives us a glimpse of the wider role clergy often played in Georgian society. A parish priest might preach, baptise, marry and bury his parishioners, while also taking part in the civil administration of the county.
Radcliffe died on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1825, aged about 67. The churchyard records at St Peter & St Paul’s preserve his name and dates.
His story is quieter than those of Fareham’s admirals and soldiers, but it represents another important strand of local history: the parish clergy who were trusted not only with the spiritual life of their communities, but with responsibilities in the civic life of Hampshire as well.
