Arthur Shearly Cripps

Arthur Shearly Cripps (10 June 1869 - 1 August 1952) was an English Anglican priest, short story writer, and poet who spent most of his life in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

Biography
Cripps was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and was educated at Charterhouse School and Trinity College, Oxford, where he read history. He then trained at Cuddeston Theological College, taking holy orders, and from 1894 had the parish Ford End in Essex.

He became a missionary for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, intending to work in Mashonaland, after reading criticism of the methods of Cecil Rhodes. From 1902 he had a parish near Enkeldoorn (now known as Chivhu) in what was then Southern Rhodesia.

He was in conflict with the British South Africa Company over land distribution, taking the side of the African population. He was given the Shona name Mpandi, or 'the man who walks like thunder'. After more than 20 years he returned to England for a time after a quarrel with the British administration; but went back shortly for the rest of his life, having in 1927 published Africa for Africans, on the land issue.

He is chiefly known for his short stories, which continue to be taught and read in South Africa. The bulk of these stories are from his book "Cinderella in the South."

His great-great-nephew is the Welsh poet, Owen Sheers, who has written about him in the award-winning, Dust Diaries (2004).

Legacy
There is a road in Harare, Cripps Road, named after Arthur Cripps.

Arthur Cripps lived for some time in Manyene Communal Lands, about 120 km South of Harare, 20 km North of Chivhu. An area of Manyene is now know by a name he influenced, Maronda Mashanu, which means The Five Wounds in the local Shona language. There are claims that Father Cripps is buried near All Saints School in the same area of Manyene Communal Lands. Manyene is part of Chikomba District in the Mashonaland East province of Zimbabwe.

Some people from the area claim that Arthur Cripps performed miracles. For example there a claims that a white man who wanted to assault him for associating with Africans got crippled the moment he raised his hand. They claim that the man was only healed when Father Cripps prayed for him. Of course claims such as these are often based on wrong and superstitious interpretation of otherwise benign events. However they can give expert researchers important clues in piecing together actual events.

Works

 * Titania and Other Poems (1900)
 * Primavera: Poems by Four Authors (1900)
 * Jonathan: A Song of David (1902)
 * The Black Christ (1902) poems
 * Magic Casements (1905)
 * Lyra Evangelistica: Missionary Verses of Mashonaland (1909)
 * Faerylands Forlorn: African Tales (1910)
 * The Two of Them Together: A Tale About Africa To-Day (1910)
 * The Brooding Earth (1911) novel
 * Pilgrimage of Grace, Verses on a Mission (1912)
 * Bay-Tree Country (1913) novel
 * Pilgrim's Joy Verses (1916)
 * Lake and War: African Land and Water Verses (1917)
 * Cinderella in the South: South African Tales (1918)
 * An Africa for Africans: A Plea on Behalf of Territorial Segregation Areas and Their Freedom in a Southern African Colony (1927)
 * Africa: Verses (1939)