James Ford

Ford, James, M.A., was born in 1797, and educated at Oriel College, Oxford; B.A. in honours 1814. Ordained in 1822. In 1849 he became a Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral, and held the same till his death, Feb. 18, 1875. His works included (1) Prayer-Book Rhymes, or The Order of Morning Prayer in Verse, 1853; (2) Hymns for Midnight and Mid-Day. Privately Printed, 1856; (3) Steps to the Sanctuary, or the Order of Morning Prayer set forth and Explained in Verse, 1858; (4) Thoughts in Verse on Private Prayer and Public Worship, 1867; (5) Dante's Inferno, 1865; (6) Dante's Divina Commedi, 1870; (7) Ut Pictura Poesis, and others. His Midnight hymn, 1856, begins "Awake, my soul, awake to prayer," and is in 19 stanzas of 4 lines. (Lord Selborne's Book of Praise, 1862, p. 283), and his Mid-day hymn, "When at mid-day my task I ply," in 22 stanzas of 4 lines. (Book of Praise, p. 266). In Thring's Collection, 1882, No. 18 is composed of st. i., xvii.-xxii., of the latter hymn, slightly altered. Another cento therefrom is in T. Darling's Hymns for the Church of England, 1889. It begins:—"Thou, Lord, didst consecrate this hour."

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)