Henry Williams Baker

1821-1877

Born: May 27, 1821, Belmont House, Vauxhall, Surrey, England.

Died: February 12, 1877, Monkland, Herefordshire, England. His friend John Ellerton reported that Baker’s dying words were from his famous hymn:

Perverse and foolish oft I stayed,
But yet in love He sought me,
And on His shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me.

Buried: Monkland, Herefordshire, England.

Henry was the son of Vice Admiral Henry Loraine Baker. He attended Trinity College at Cambridge, was ordained in 1844, and became assistant curate at Great Hockesley, near Colchester, Essex. In 1851, he became vicar of Monkland Priory Church in Herefordshire, England, where he served most of his life. Upon his father’s death in 1859, Baker assumed the family baronetcy. From 1860 to 1877, he was editor-in-chief of the Anglican Hymns Ancient and Modern, and contributed hymns, tunes, and translations. This historic hymnal sold 60 million copies.

Hymns:

1. Almighty God, Whose Only Son
2. How Welcome Was the Call
3. King of Love My Shepherd Is, The
4. Lord, Thy Word Abideth
5. My Father, for Another Night
6. O Perfect Life of Love
7. O Praise Ye the Lord
8. Sing Praise to the Lord!
9. Sweet Flow’rets of the Martyr Band

Translations:

1. Now My Soul, Thy Voice Upraising
2. O Christ, Redeemer of Our Race (Christe Redemptor omnium Ex Patre Patris unice)
3. Of the Father’s Love Begotten (Corde natus ex parentis)
4. On This Day, the First of Days (Die parente temporum)

Music:

1. Hesperus
2. St. Timothy
3. Stephanos