Robert Jackson (b, Oldham, Lancashire, England, 1842; d. Oldham, 1914) originally, composed TRENTHAM as a setting for Henry W. Baker's "O Perfect Life of Love" (380). Named for a village in Staffordshire, England, close to the town in which Jackson was born, the tune was published with the Baker text in Fifty Sacred Leaflets (1888).

After receiving his musical training at the Royal Academy of Music, Jackson worked briefly as organist at St. Mark's Church, Grosvenor Square, in London. But he spent most of his life as organist at St. Peter's Church in Oldham (1868-1914), where his father had previously been organist for forty-eight years. A composer of hymn tunes, Jackson was also the conductor of the Oldham Music Society and Werneth Vocal Society.

By the turn of the twentieth century, TRENTHAM became associated with the Hatch text. TRENTHAM is a serviceable tune in the mannerist tradition of Victorian hymnody (see PHH 276), but it is barely adequate for the fervor of this text. Nonetheless, the tune is loved by many. Sing in harmony and maintain one pulse per bar.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook