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Henry J. Gauntlett

1805 - 1876 Person Name: H. J. Gauntlett Composer of "MELBOURNE HALL (Gauntlett)" Henry J. Gauntlett (b. Wellington, Shropshire, July 9, 1805; d. London, England, February 21, 1876) When he was nine years old, Henry John Gauntlett (b. Wellington, Shropshire, England, 1805; d. Kensington, London, England, 1876) became organist at his father's church in Olney, Buckinghamshire. At his father's insistence he studied law, practicing it until 1844, after which he chose to devote the rest of his life to music. He was an organist in various churches in the London area and became an important figure in the history of British pipe organs. A designer of organs for William Hill's company, Gauntlett extended the organ pedal range and in 1851 took out a patent on electric action for organs. Felix Mendelssohn chose him to play the organ part at the first performance of Elijah in Birmingham, England, in 1846. Gauntlett is said to have composed some ten thousand hymn tunes, most of which have been forgotten. Also a supporter of the use of plainchant in the church, Gauntlett published the Gregorian Hymnal of Matins and Evensong (1844). Bert Polman

Esther Wiglesworth

1827 - 1904 Author of "Christian children, Advent bids you" in The Book of Common Praise Wiglesworth, Esther, daughter of Thomas Wiglesworth, was born at 6 Bruce Terrace, Tottenham, Middlesex, in 1827, and is now (1891) Matron of the Magdalen Asylum, Streatham. She has composed a large number of small poetical works, and has contributed numerous hymns and poems to the periodical press. The works from which most of her hymns in common use are taken, are: Verses for the Sundays and Holidays of the Christian Seasons, 1863; (2) Verses for Christian Children, 1871; (3) Hymns for the Feasts, and other Verses, 1878; (4) Songs of Perseverance, 1885, &c. These hymns in common use include:— 1. Almighty Father, God of love. Morning. 2. Father, look upon Thy children. Confirmation. 3. God chooseth out the place. God the Guide. 4. God sets a still small voice. Conscience. 5. How beautiful is earth. Heaven. 6. Little children, Advent bids you. Advent. 7. O Fount of life and beauty. St. Barnabas. 8. Thou Who with dying lips For Orphans. 9. When we in holy worship. Divine Worship. Miss Wiglesworth's hymns are admirably suited, through their simplicity and tenderness, for the use of children. She d. Oct. 31, 1904. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)