Canon Dr. H. P. Stokes, 1849-1931

<plain_text><page sequence="1"></page><page sequence="2">canon dr. henry paine stokes. 267 Canon Dr. Henry Paine Stokes, LL.D., D.Litt., F.S.A., 1849-1931. By Herbert Loewe, M.A. This is not the place for a detailed biography of the late Dr. Stokes. A full account of his many activities will, no doubt, appear elsewhere. But since these many activities included a very fruitful presidency of the Jewish Historical Society and much scholarly research in Anglo Jewish history, it is appropriate that the twelfth volume of the Society's Transactions should bear witness to the respect and affection with which the memory of Dr. Stokes is held by the members. Henry Paine Stokes was born in 1849. He was a scholar of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he graduated as Senior Optime in 1875, gaining also a second class in the Theological Tripos. Two years later the distinguished honour of winning the Harness prize essay in the University fell to his lot. He was a double doctor, having been granted the LL.D. in 1897 and the Litt.D. in 1917, in which year he was also elected Honorary Fellow of his College and Honorary Canon of Ely. On graduating, Stokes took Holy Orders and served in 1875 both as College Chaplain and as Curate of St. Paul's, Cambridge, of which church he subsequently held the living. His various parochial offices took him, successively, to Wyddial (Herts), Bristol, Wolver hampton, and Little Wilbraham (Cambs), where he also held the office of Rural Dean. His archaeological tastes found an opening wherever he went. There was no parish in which he lived where he did not contribute to the elucidation of its early history; for example, the pages of the Wolverhampton and Cambridge Archaeological Societies Records contain numerous articles from his pen. In 1911 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. His many writings dealt with various branches of social life and ceremonial of the past ?e.g. his " Esquire Bedells," " Outside the Trumpington Gate,"</page><page sequence="3">268 CANON DR. HENRY PAINE STOKES. " University Ceremonial," which readily occur to anyone connected with Cambridge. He specialised in Shakespeare, Cowper and Blake, taking a prominent part in the societies devoted to these authors and, as the entries in the library catalogues show, himself writing numerous works on these subjects. He held the presidency of the Jewish Historical Society during the troublous years 1914-16, and was the first?and, until now, the only? non-Jewish scholar elected to this post. They were difficult years in which to maintain a Society devoted to literature : men's thoughts were with the present and indifferent to the past. Not a few kindred bodies failed to weather the storm. The Hebraists were still-born, and the Society of Biblical Archaeology succumbed. But the Jewish Historical Society survived and flourished, and for this Stokes was largely responsible. In spite of grievous personal sorrow, having lost his only son in the war, he threw himself wholeheartedly into work for the Society's cause, and this alone would be enough to endear his memory. But he will also be remembered for his researches and writings on Anglo-Jewry, including his invaluable Studies in Anglo Jewish History, published by the Society, for his famous presidential addresses, his history of the Jews of Cambridge, his Short History of the Jews of England, and his volume of British Museum Starrs, written conjointly with Israel Abrahams. Stokes was a great friend of two presidents of the Society, of Israel Abrahams and of Nina Salaman, who, alas! was not spared to fill the office to which she was elected. He attended the memorial service to Nina Salaman in the Cambridge Synagogue, and that to Israel Abrahams in the Senate House, on which occasion he read the English Psalms. His books, Anglo-Judaica and Hebraica, and notes, including much unpublished material, have been presented to his old College as a memorial collection. This was opened on March 6, 1932, and the Jewish Historical Society participated in the ceremony, being represented by the President, Mr. Gustave Tuck, and other members of the Council. His memory will be cherished by Anglo-Jewry as a scholarly historian who rendered valuable help in writing its early annals.</page><page sequence="4">CANON DR. HENRY PAINE STOKES. Bibliography of Canon Dr. Stokes on Anglo-Judaica. Publications : Studies in Anglo-Jewish History. Published by the Jewish Historical Society, 1913. (Containing a history of the Jews of Cambridge.) A Short History of the Jews of England. Published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1921. Starrs and Jewish Charters preserved in the British Museum (in collabora? tion with Dr. Israel Abrahams, and later with Mr. Herbert Loewe). Published by the Jewish Historical Society, 1930. Papers read before the Society : " The Jews of Cambridge." January 21, 1907. " Jewish Surnames and Titles before the Expulsion." January 18, 1909. " Manuscripts and Books possessed by pre-Expulsion Jews." Presiden? tial Address, November 23, 1914. Transactions, vol. viii. 44 The Relations between the Jews and the Royal Family in the Thirteenth Century." Presidential Address, December 20, 1915. Transactions, vol. viii. "Address in Memory of Dr. Joseph Jacobs." February 22, 1916. Transactions, vol. viii. 44 A Jewish Family in Oxford in the Thirteenth Century." July 1, 1918. Transactions, vol. x. In Miscellanies, Part I. (1925), of the Society he contributed a Paper called 44 Extracts from the Close Rolls, 1289-1369."</page></plain_text>