Eliza Westbury

WESTBURY, Eliza. b. Hackleton, Northamptonshire, 1808 (Baptized 22 May); d. 11 April 1828. She was a member of Hackleton Baptist Church (among its founders in 1781 had been the local shoemaker, William Carey, who became a famous missionary and was instrumental in establishing the Baptist Missionary Society). Westbury learned to read and write at Sabbath School. She was a lace-maker and a Particular Baptist. Converted to an evangelical faith in 1826, she subsequently wrote about 150 hymns: 71 were published in Hymns by a Northamptonshire Village Female; To which is added, A short Account of her Life (Northampton, 1828). Her hymns are remarkable as the compositions of a young working-class...