Ainger, Alfred

AINGER, ALFRED: Church of England; b. at London Feb. 9, 1837; d. there Feb. 8, 1904. He was educated at King’s College, London, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (B.A., 1860), and was ordered deacon in 1860 and priested in the following year. He was successively curate of Alrewas, Staffordshire, in 1860-64, assistant master of Sheffield College School in 1864-66, and reader at the Temple Church, London, in 1866-93. From 1894 until his death he was Master of the Temple. He was likewise made canon of Bristol in 1887, and was elected honorary fellow of Trinity Hall in 1898, being also select preacher at Oxford in 1891 and 1898, as well as honorary chaplain to the queen in 1895-96 and chaplain in ordinary to the king after the latter year. In addition to a number of monographs on English authors, and besides contributions to the Dictionary of National Biography, he wrote Sermons Preached in the Temple Church (London, 1870). He is best known for his biography of Charles Lamb (London, 1882) and his editions of Lamb’s works (1883 sqq.). His genial humor and whimsical temperament peculiarly fitted him to be the editor of Lamb, and, with his uncommon personality and exquisite literary taste, made him one of the most popular clergymen of London. He attracted to the Temple Church perhaps the most distinguished congregation in the city.

Bibliography: E. Sichel, Life and Letters of Alfred Ainger, New York, 1906.