PeopleHumphreys, Joseph

Humphreys, Joseph, son of Asher Humphreys, minister at Burford, Oxfordshire, was born at Burford, Oct. 28, 1720, and educated at a grammar school at Fairford, and at an academy for the training of young men for the ministry in London. From the latter he was expelled, Dec. 25, 1739, because of his attachment to Whitefield. For a short time he associated with the Wesleys, but eventually joined G. Whitefield, and subsequently preached at Bristol, London, and Deptford. He died in London (date unknown), and was buried in the Moravian Cemetery at Chelsea.

He was a contributor to Whitefield's Christian History (1741-1748), 1742, &c, and published, 1742, An Account of Joseph Humphreys's Experiences, &c. As a hymnwriter he is not widely known. His hymns were contributed to J. Cennick'e Sacred Hymns for the Use of Religious Societies (Bristol), 1743, pt. ii., and are thus introduced: "These were done by Mr. Joseph Humphreys." Of these hymns, two only are in common use:—
1. Blessed are the sons of God. Adoption.
2. Come, guilty souls, and flee away. Invitation. These are given in Spurgeon's Our Own Hymn Book, 1866,
and other collections. No. 1 is the more popular of the two. It is sometimes abbreviated, and has the concluding lines of st. viii. added as a refrain to each stanza.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Hymn Texts by Joseph Humphreys	As
Blessed are the sons of God (3)	Joseph Humphreys
Blessed [Blest] are the sons of God	J. Humphreys