George Hugh Bourne was a hymnodist, schoolmaster and warden, chaplain to the Bishop of Bloemfontein

Alan Becher Webb

Allan Becher Webb was the second Bishop of Bloemfontein, afterward Bishop of Grahamstown and, later, Dean of Salisbury.-Early years:...

, and ultimately on the staff of Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture....

 as Sub-dean and Prebendary

Prebendary

A prebendary is a post connected to an Anglican or Catholic cathedral or collegiate church and is a type of canon. Prebendaries have a role in the administration of the cathedral...

. He was born on 8 November 1840 at St Paul’s Cray, Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and died on 2 December 1925 at St. Edmund's College

St. Edmund's College

There are a number of colleges named after Saint Edmund. These include:*St Edmund's College, Cambridge, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge*St Edmund's College, Ware*St Edmund's College, Canberra*St. Edmund's College, Shillong...

, Salisbury, England.

Early life and education

Bourne was the son of the Revd R. B. Bourne and was educated at Eton College

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 and at Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...

 (BA 1863, BCL 1866, DCL 1871).

Career

Taking Holy Orders in 1863, he served as Assistant Curate of Sandford-on-Thames

Sandford-on-Thames

Sandford-on-Thames is a village and Parish Council beside the River Thames in Oxfordshire just south of Oxford. The village is just west of the A4074 road between Oxford and Henley.-Early history:...

, 1863 to 1865. Subsequently Bourne was Head Master of St. Andrew’s Chardstock

Chardstock

Chardstock is a village and civil parish located on the eastern border of Devon, England off the A358 road between Chard and Axminster.The attractive village is surrounded by farmland and woodland and is within the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village church dates from...

, 1866 to 1874 and afterwards Warden of St. Edmund’s, Salisbury, 1874 to 1885.

From 1879 to 1898, Bourne served as Chaplain to the Bishop of Bloemfontein

Anglican Diocese of the Free State

The Anglican Diocese of the Free State is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.-History:The first service North of the Orange River to be taken by an Anglican clergyman was conducted in 1850 by Robert Gray, the first Bishop of Cape Town. In 1863, Edward Twells was consecrated the...

 (later of Grahamstown), South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, the Rt Revd Alan Becher Webb

Alan Becher Webb

Allan Becher Webb was the second Bishop of Bloemfontein, afterward Bishop of Grahamstown and, later, Dean of Salisbury.-Early years:...

, who was married to Bourne’s sister

Bourne was appointed Sub-dean of Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture....

, 1887 to 1901, and as Treasurer and Prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral, 1901 (where his brother-in-law Bishop Webb took up the Deanship after his retirement from South Africa),

Hymns

Bourne wrote a number of hymns, the best known of which is his hymn Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour. It was originally part of a set of Seven Post-Communion Hymns (1874), published privately for St. Edmund’s College, Salisbury, which then gained wider circulation after 1889 when five of the original ten stanzas appeared in the Supplement to the 1875 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern

Hymns Ancient and Modern

Hymns Ancient and Modern was a hymnal in common use within the Church of England. Over the years it has grown into a large family of hymnals....

. It was, in turn, assigned a more central place among Communion Hymns in subsequent editions and revisions of that prominent Anglican hymnal. The hymn is set to the tune "St. Helen" by George Clement Martin

George Clement Martin

Sir George Clement Martin MVO was an English organist, who served at St Paul's Cathedral.-Background:He was born in Lambourn, Berkshire on 11 September 1844. Footman's "History of Lambourn Church" describes him as "the only famous man to come from Lambourne"...

. Bourne’s other hymns include O Christ, Our God, O Christ, the King of Human Life, Of the Wondrous Body, O My Tongue Be Telling and Scarce Discerning Aught Before Us.