Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander (Early April 1818, Dublin - 12 October 1895, Derry) was a hymn-writer and poet. 1818 (MDCCCXVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ...

She was born the daughter of Major John Humphreys and Elizabeth (née Reed). She began writing verse in her childhood. Her religious work was strongly influenced by her contacts with the Oxford Movement and in particular with John Keble, who edited one of her anthologies. By the 1840s she was already known as a hymnwriter and her compositions were soon included in Church of Ireland hymnbooks. The Oxford Movement was a loose affiliation of High Church Anglicans, most of them members of the University of Oxford, who sought to demonstrate that the Church of England was a direct descendant of the Christian church established by the Apostles. ... John Keble John Keble (April 25, 1792- March 29, 1866) was an English churchman, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement, and gave his name to Keble College, Oxford (1870). ... Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (Irish: Eaglais na hÉireann) is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, operating seamlessly across the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. ...

Her Hymns for Little Children reached its 69th edition before the close of the ninteenth century. Some of her hymns, e.g. "All Things Bright and Beautiful", "There is a Green Hill Far Away" and "The Roseate Hues of Early Dawn", and the Christmas carol "Once in Royal David's City", are known by many millions of Christians the world over. All Things Bright and Beautiful is the title of a famous Anglican hymn, though it is often sung during the services of other Christian demoninations, such as Catholicism. ... Carol]].A Christmas carol(also called a noël) is a carol(songor hymn) whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas, or the winter season in general. ... Once In Royal Davids City is a Christmas carol, which was originally a poem written by Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander, an Anglican bishops wife. ...

In Strabane in October 1850 she married the Anglican clergyman William Alexander (bishop), afterwards Bishop of Derry and Archbishop of Armagh. Her husband also wrote several books of poetry, of which the most important is St. Augustine's Holiday and other Poems. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... William Alexander (1824–1911) was an Irish cleric in the Church of England. ... The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh is the senior cleric of the Church of Ireland, the oldest and most wide-spread non-roman episcopal denomination in the island of Ireland. ...

She was also involved in charitable work, founding a school for the deaf in Derry with her sister.

References

• This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.
• The biography of Cecil Frances Alexander, PoemHunter.com
• Cecil Frances Alexander, Ulster History Circle

The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature is a collection of biographies of writers by John W. Cousin, published around 1910. ...

External links

• All Things Bright and Beautiful, Flash movie based on the famous hymn