Crockford's Clerical Directory

Where to find all you want to know about Anglican clergymen.

Crockford: common misconceptions

The first volume was published in 1857 .
It was completed in 1857, but not published as a book until 1858.

The next edition will be the 100th Crockford 100th Clerical Directory, yes; but 99th Crockford’s Clerical Directory Crockford was the only national directory of the clergy . It was the third significant one, and did not have a monopoly till 1917

Crockford was a mythical character.
John Crockford was the first publisher and business manager.

It was not intended to be a yearly publication.
The initial advertisement shows that it was.
But it came out every year until recently. It was annual from 1876 to the First World War.

Crockford always had a long preface.
The first did not fill two pages.

The preface was always a discursive article . . . This developed gradually after 1870
. . . concerning the state of the Church . . . Not mainly until 1907 . . . and always written by an anonymous cleric It was sometimes written by a lay editor before 1921.

THIS December, Crockford’s Clerical Directory claims to reach its 100th edition.
Next year is the 150th anniversary of the first published volume of the Directory, and November has just seen the 190th anniversary of publication of the very first national clergy directory in 1817, one of three 19th-century publications to which today’s Crockford is successor in title.