Clough Letters

Undated letters from Arthur Hugh Clough to E W Field, concerning accommodation and religious matters.

Arthur Clough was born in Liverpool to James Butler Clough, a cotton merchant of Welsh descent, and Anne Perfect, originally from Yorkshire. In 1822 the family moved to the United States, and Clough's childhood was spent mainly in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1828 Clough and his older brother Charles returned to England to attend school in Chester. Inspired by the teaching of Thomas Arnold, he won a scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford. Although he failed to win the expected first-class degree, he was elected a fellow of Oriel College. In 1850 Clough became professor of English Literature at University College. Arthur was the brother of Ann Jemima Clough. He took a keen interest in Anne's education. He directed her studies and under his influence Anne started her own school and was later to become principal of Newnham College, Cambridge.

In 1852 Clough went to America where he became a tutor at Cambridge, Massachusetts. He returned to England in 1853 and joined the Education Department. In the aftermath of the Crimean War, toured military schools in Austria, France and Prussia. Clough wrote a great deal of poetry but only two volumes appeared during his lifetime: The Bothie of Tober-na-Vuolich (1848) and Ambarvalia (1849). Arthur Hugh Clough died in Florence in 1861.

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