Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 1.djvu/390

 less boat, which was due to Mat. Taylor, the professional of the Royal Chester Rowing Club, in 1856. But both inventions owed improvements to Clasper. Like one or two other oarsman he early discovered the advantage to be derived from allowing the body to slide on a fixed seat. Clasper subsequently devoted much time to perfecting the mechanical slide, and experimented with brass slides, glass, and rollers. In regard to the keel-less boats, Clasper worked out and perfected two radical changes of value: one was a lessening of the depth or draught of the boat, thereby reducing the water friction, and the other was the formation, after the analogy of a fish, of what may be called the 'shoulder.' In other words he placed the maximum width not in the centre of the length, but somewhat in advance. He also invented the countervail to obviate the steering difficulty caused by side wind.

John, whose father had never built eight-oared boats, greatly developed his business during the period (1870-4) when Cambridge were enjoying a run of victories over Oxford, and he built the 'eights' which were successful in 1870, 1871, 1872, and 1873. Continuous orders from both universities followed, and Clasper transferred a branch of his building business to the river at Oxford. About 1880 the supremacy in successful construction of racing boats was divided between Swaddle & Winship (a Tyneside firm) and Clasper. One of his best boats was that in which Oxford rowed in 1883. After training in a Swaddle & Winship craft the crew took to a new 'Clasper,' and won with the odds at three to one on Cambridge.

Clasper, whose integrity was recognised among all classes of oarsmen, was long a well-known figure at aquatic meetings, and in middle age was remarkable for his youthful appearance. His rowing weight when stripped was only 8 stone 3 lbs. and his height 5 feet 5| inches. He died on 15 Sept. 1908 at his residence, Lower Richmond Road, Putney. Clasper married in 1871 Elizabeth, daughter of George Rough of Wandsworth Common, and sister of Frederick Rough, boat-builder, of Oxford. His boat-building business is now carried on by his widow, assisted by his younger brother, Henry.

 CLAYDEN, PETER WILLIAM (1827–1902), journalist and author, eldest son (of four children) of Peter Clayden (d. 1865), ironmonger, and Eliza Greene (d. 1873), was born at Wallingford on 20 October 1827. He was educated at a private school in Wallingford, and early went into business. Brought up among congregationalists, he was led by the writings of Dr. James Martineau [q. v. Suppl. I] to Unitarian views, and was admitted to the Unitarian ministry. For thirteen years from 1855 to 1868 he was an active Unitarian minister. He was in charge successively of Unitarian churches at Boston (1855-9), at Rochdale (1859-60), and at Nottingham (1860-8). In 1865 Clayden appealed to Dr. James Martineau to act as leader in a movement for the union of all congregations that rested on a spiritual and not on a dogmatic basis; and on 14 March 1866 the Free Church Union was formed, of which Clayden became secretary (Life and Letters of James Martincan, i. 418). Meanwhile he was also devoting himself to journalism. While at Boston he edited for a time the 'Boston Guardian'; while at Nottingham he wrote chiefly on political and social questions for the 'Edinburgh Review,' the 'Fortnightly,' and the 'Cornhill Magazine.' He strongly advocated the cause of the north during the American civil war. He had already become acquainted with Miss Harriet Martineau [q. v.], and she, in 1866, introduced him to Thomas Walker [q. v.], editor of the 'Daily News,' who engaged him at once as an occasional writer in his paper. A thirty years' association with the 'Daily News' was thus inaugurated. In 1868, when the 'Daily News' was reduced to 1d., Clayden resigned his ministry and joined the regular staff in London as leader writer and assistant editor. In 1887 he became night editor, a post he retained till 1896.

Clayden, an ardent liberal of strong non-conformist leanings, greatly increased the influence of the 'Daily News' as an organ of liberal nonconformist opinion. He was especially active in support of Gladstone's anti-Turkish views of the Eastern question, and in hostility to the pro-Turkish policy of Lord Beaconsfield and his successors.

Clayden thrice sought in vain to enter parliament in the liberal interest, unsuccessfully contesting Nottingham in '1868, Norwood in 1885, and North Islington in 1886. He was a member of the executive committee of the National Liberal Federation and an alderman of St. Pancras. Clayden's journalistic efficiency and honesty of purpose were well recognised by professional 