Wilfred Joseph Cripps

Wilfred Joseph Cripps (8 June 1841 – 26 October 1903) was an English antiquarian and a writer on antique silver plate.

Early life Cripps was born in London into a wealthy family who profited from the wool trade in the Cotswolds and were prominent in Cirencester from the Elizabethan era. His father, William Cripps, and grandfather Joseph Cripps were both members of parliament.

Cripps was educated at Kensington Grammar School and King's College London. He matriculated in 1859 at Trinity College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1863 and M.A. in 1866. He was called to the bar in May 1865 at the Middle Temple and practised for some years on the Oxford circuit.

Career In the early 1870s W. J. Cripps began research on old English plate. In 1878 he published Old English Plate, which went through nine editions by 1906 and provided valuable information for buyers of antique plate. In June 1880 he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.