William Hiley Bathurst

BATHURST, William Hiley. b. Mangotsfield, Somerset, 28 August 1796; d. Lydney, Gloucestershire, 25 November 1877. He was born the son of a politician, the Rt Hon Charles Bragge, who changed his name to Bathurst. He was educated at Winchester and Christ Church, Oxford (BA 1818). He took Holy Orders, and was rector of Barwick-in-Elmet, Yorkshire, from 1820 to 1852. He resigned on doctrinal grounds in 1852, and lived thereafter at Lydney, Gloucestershire. He was one of the early Church of England hymn writers and compilers, publishing Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Use (1831, Second Edition, 1842).  JJ had a poor opinion of Bathurst's hymns: ‘They are characterized by simplicity of...