Frances Ridley Havergal (December 14, 1836 – June 3, 1879) was an English religious poet and hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

 writer. Take My Life and Let it Be and Thy Life for Me (also known as I Gave My Life for Thee) are two of her best known hymns. She also wrote hymn melodies, religious tracts, and works for children.

Life

She was born into an Anglican family, at Astley

Astley, Worcestershire

Astley is a village, and a civil parish in Worcestershire, England, about seven miles south-west of Kidderminster.A range of English white wines including sparkling wines have been produced in Astley since 1983...

 in Worcestershire

Worcestershire

Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...

. Her father, William Henry Havergal

William Henry Havergal

William Henry Havergal was an Anglican clergyman, writer, composer and hymnwriter, and a publisher of sermons and pamphlets...

 (1793–1870), was a clergyman, writer, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, and hymnwriter. Her brother, Henry East Havergal

Henry East Havergal

Henry East Havergal was a priest in the Church of England and an organist.Havergal, eldest son of William Henry Havergal , was born at Coaley, Gloucestershire, 22 July 1820. His mother died in 1848 and his father remarried in 1851...

, was a priest in the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 and an organist.

In 1852/3 she studied in the Louisenschule, Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

, and at Oberkassel

Düsseldorf-Oberkassel

Oberkassel is a quartier of Düsseldorf, with a population of about 17,000 inhabitants. Oberkassel lies on the left side of the river Rhine, the opposite side of the central district of Düsseldorf....

. Otherwise she led a quiet life, not enjoying consistent good health; she travelled, in particular to Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. She supported the Church Missionary Society.

She died of peritonitis

Peritonitis

Peritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, the serous membrane that lines part of the abdominal cavity and viscera. Peritonitis may be localised or generalised, and may result from infection or from a non-infectious process.-Abdominal pain and tenderness:The main manifestations of...

 at Caswell Bay

Caswell Bay

Caswell Bay is a popular UK holiday resort in the south east of the Gower Peninsula, Swansea, Wales.Access to the beach is relatively easy and inland from the sandy beach is a recreational park. Caswell is ideal for surfing, holidays in the nearby Hotels and Chalet Park. The beach regularly...

 on the Gower Peninsula

Gower Peninsula

Gower or the Gower Peninsula is a peninsula in south Wales, jutting from the coast into the Bristol Channel, and administratively part of the City and County of Swansea. Locally it is known as "Gower"...

 in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 at age 42. Her sisters saw much of her work published posthumously. Havergal College

Havergal College

Havergal College is an independent boarding and day school for girls from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Named for English hymn composer, author and humanitarian Frances Ridley Havergal, the school was founded in 1894 by a group of men led by The Honourable H...

, a private girls' school in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, is named after her. The composer Havergal Brian

Havergal Brian

Havergal Brian , was a British classical composer.Brian acquired a legendary status at the time of his rediscovery in the 1950s and 1960s for the many symphonies he had managed to write. By the end of his life he had completed 32, an unusually large number for any composer since Haydn or Mozart...

adopted the name as a tribute to the Havergal family.

Works

• Ministry of Song (1870)
• Take My Life and Let it Be (1874)
• Under the Surface (1874)
• The four happy days (1874)
• Royal Commandments (1878)
• O Merciful Redeemer
• Loyal Responses (1878)
• Kept for the Master's Use (1879) memoirs
• Life Chords (1880)
• Royal Bounty (1880)
• Little Pillows, or Goodnight Thoughts for the Little Ones (1880)
• Morning bells, or, Waking thoughts for the little ones (1880)
• Swiss Letters and Alpine Poems (1881) edited by J. M. Crane
• Under His Shadow: the Last Poems of Frances Ridley Havergal (1881)
• The Royal Invitation (1882)
• Life Echoes (1883)
• Poetical Works (1884) edited by M. V. G. Havergal and Frances Anna Shaw
• Coming to the King (1886)
• My King and His Service (1896)
• Forget Me Nots of Promise, Text from Scripture and verses by Frances Ridley Havergal, Marcus Ward&Co.

External links

• The Cyber Hymnal page on Frances Ridley Havergal.
• Frances Havergal biographies