Richard Valpy French

Richard Valpy French was a British clergyman and social historian who lived from 1839 to 1907. Trinity College Cambridge’s archives identify him as a clergyman and social historian, and surviving records also connect him to the French family of churchmen, including his brother Thomas Valpy French, Bishop of Lahore.

He is best remembered for Nineteen Centuries of Drink in England: A History, first published in the 1880s and later digitized by Project Gutenberg and the Internet Archive. The book sets out to trace the part drink played in English life across many centuries, mixing social customs, religious concerns, law, and everyday habits into a wide-ranging historical survey.

Catalog records also show that he wrote Drinking of Healths in England and edited Lex Mosaica. No suitable verified portrait image could be confirmed from the sources reviewed, so no profile image is included here.