The Hammer

Alfred John Church (29 January 1829 - 27 April 1912) was an English classical scholar. Church was born in London and was educated at King's College, London, and Lincoln College, Oxford. He took holy orders and was an assistant-master at Merchant Taylors' School from 1857 to 1870. He subsequently served as headmaster of Henley-on-Thames Royal Grammar School from 1870 to 1873, and then of King Edward VI School, Retford, from 1873 to 1880. From 1880 until 1888 he was professor of Latin at University College, London. While at University College in partnership with William Jackson Brodribb, he translated Tacitus and edited Pliny's Letters (Epistulae). Church also wrote a number of stories in English re-telling of classical tales and legends for young people (Stories from Virgil, Stories from Homer, etc.).