Life

Clifton was the son of a clergyman, for many years British chaplain at Bruges

Bruges

Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....

, and was born at Gloucester

Gloucester

Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

 on 4 January 1810. The earlier part of his education was under his father at Worcester

Worcester

The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...

. In 1830 he matriculated at Worcester College, Oxford

Worcester College, Oxford

Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...

 He proceeded B.A. in 1831 and M.A. in 1834, and took holy orders in 1833, at the hands of the bishop of Oxford. In 1833 he was elected Fellow of his college.

Before taking his first curacy, which was in Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, he spent some time in Oxford as a tutor. In 1837 he was appointed to the office of clerk in orders at the Manchester Collegiate Church, and on 6 December 1843 was elected to a fellowship by the collegiate chapter. When the church was elevated to cathedral dignity he became a canon. In 1843 he was instituted to the rectory of Somerton

Somerton

Somerton is a small town and civil parish in the South Somerset district of the English county of Somerset. It gave its name to the county of Somerset, was briefly, around the start of the 14th century, the county town, and around 900 AD was possibly the capital of Wessex...

 in Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, a benefice he held with his Manchester preferment until his death. He took part in the administration of public charities and religious societies in Manchester, and was a trustee of Owens College, where his son Robert Bellamy Clifton was for some time professor of experimental philosophy.

He died at his rectory at Somerton on 30 July 1861, aged 51.

Works

He published sermons and pamphlets, among which are:

• 'A Letter to the Rev. Dr. Hook on the subject of National Education' (1846);
• 'The Collegiate Church of Manchester from its foundation in 1422 to the present time, with Observations on the proposed Bill for the Subdivision of the Parish of Manchester, and for the Appropriation of the Revenues of the Chapter' (1850).