Henry W. Greatorex

GREATOREX, Henry Wellington.  b. Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England, 24 December 1813; d. Charleston, South Carolina, USA, 10 September 1858.  Greatorex is remembered as a composer of hymn tunes, primarily those first published in his book, A Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes… (see below). According to Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography and many subsequent accounts, Greatorex was born in 1816.  However, the notice of his death (of yellow fever) in the Charleston Daily Courier, 18 September 1858, gives the 1813 birthdate cited above.  In support of the latter is the baptismal register of St Marylebone Parish, Westminster, London, which shows that the date of his baptism was...