Clare, John

Clare, John, an English Baptist minister, was born at Ashton, Berkshire, in 1776. He was educated among the Independents, but joined the Baptists when between eighteen and nineteen years of age; and having already written short sermons as " an amusement and an exercise," he now frequently "exercised his gifts" in some of the leading Baptist churches in the vicinity. At length he became pastor in the village of Downton, where he remained for more than thirty-seven-years, securing in eminent degree the affections of his flock, and making "full proof of his ministry." He died near the close of 1840. -See (Lond.) Baptist Magazine, 1842, p. 165-170. (J. C. S.)