Nellie Talbot

Ellen Alice Talbot was born in 1861 in Debenham, Suffolk, England. Her father pastored the local Congregational church from 1855 to 1876. In 1876, the family moved to Cores End near Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England. As a young adult, Ellen began to become active in the ministry of the church; in 1882 she served tea to seventy teachers and members of the senior Sunday school class; in 1893 she organized a prayer group which prayed for missionaries; in 1894 she was conductor of the parise band and established a branch of the Society of Christian Endeavor. In 1897 her father retired and the family moved to Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, where her brother pastored a church. Ellen was again active in working with youth, the Sunday school, and the temperance movement. In 1898 she attended the world's Third Sunday School Convention as a delegate from Portsmouth, while there she was inspired by the children of her host to write "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam." The song became popular across England. In 1900 E. O. Excell published the song in Make His Praise Glorious, which includes favorite hymns from a survey of 50 clergymen from across the U.S. Ellen (Nellie) Talbot published two additional hymns, "How can we live for Jesus" and "Sing a hymn of praise to Jesus" which appeared in the 1914 Supplement: a Collection of Hymns and Tunes (London: Morgan & Scott, Ltd.) and a poem, "Our Prayer for 1916" appearing in The Jewish Missionary Herald (January 1916), p3. She died in 1950 in Portsmouth.

Dianne Shapiro from "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam" and the Mystery of Nellie Talbot" by Toni Thomas, Brett Nelson, and Brent Yorgason in The Hymn: a journal of congregational song (Vol 76, No. 3, Summer 2025)