Frances Ridley Havergal
Frances Ridley Havergal was a noted English poet and hymn writer, born in 1837 as the youngest child of Reverend William Henry Havergal. After the death of her mother during her childhood, she was educated at home until the age of thirteen and later attended Belmont School. A significant period of her life was spent in Germany, where her academic talents flourished, and her poetry gained recognition. Havergal began writing at the age of seven, but it wasn't until 1863 that her first poem was published. Her most acclaimed work, the hymn "Take My Life," reflects her deep spiritual commitment and was inspired by her experiences, particularly following her father's death in 1870. Throughout her life, she authored several collections of hymns and poems, including "Ministry of Song" and "Songs of Grace and Glory." Despite facing personal health challenges and setbacks in her publishing career, her contributions to hymnody have endured, with her works still featured in various Protestant hymnals. Frances Ridley Havergal passed away on June 3, 1879, leaving a lasting legacy in the realm of sacred music and poetry.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Frances Ridley Havergal
Poet
- Born: December 14, 1836
- Birthplace: Astley, Worcestershire, England
- Died: June 3, 1879
- Place of death: Caswall Bay, near Swansea, Wales
Biography
Frances Ridley Havergal, a poet and hymn writer, was born in 1837. She was the sixth and youngest child of the Reverend William Henry Havergal, the rector of Astley in Worcestershire, England, and his wife Jane, who died while Havergal was a young girl. Her family moved to Worcester when her father become rector of a church there. She was homeschooled until she was thirteen years old and then attended the Belmont School, where she was befriended by Miss Cooke, her teacher and later her stepmother. In 1852, her father took his new wife and Havergal to Germany, where he was treated for his failing eyesight and where Havergal attended the Louisenschule in Düsseldorf, Germany, for a year. Here, she did very well academically and spent time in Obercasssel, Germany, with the family of a German pastor.
She returned to England, where she was confirmed in Worcester Cathedral in 1853. Havergal had begun writing at the age of seven, but her first poem was not published until 1863, when she was twenty-six. Thereafter, her poems appeared in Good Words and other significant religious journals. She returned to Germany in 1865, where musician Ferdinand Hiller evaluated her poetry and praised her musical talent. In 1870, her father died and after resolving her religious feelings of inadequacy, she wrote her best-known work, the consecration hymn entitled “Take My Life.” This hymn, in which she declares “Take my life and let it be/ Consecrated, Lord to thee,” could have served as a description of her life and vocation.
The year her father died she published her first book of poems and hymns, Ministry of Song (1870). A projected trip to the United States in 1874 failed because one of her publishers could not pay her for her work. She went to Switzerland instead and was stricken with typhoid fever, requiring a prolonged period of convalescence. She was able to complete Songs of Grace and Glory (1880), a book she coedited with Charles B. Snepp, but the manuscript was accidentally burned at the publishers and had to be re-created.
After her stepmother’s death in 1878, she and her sister moved to the coast of Wales, where she continued to write hymns and perform charitable work. In 1879, she became ill and died on June 3. Her hymns live on today in the hymnals of several Protestant sects.