Bernard Barton

Born:  January 31, 1784, Carlisle, Cumberland, England.

Died:  February 19, 1849, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England.

Buried:  Turn Lane graveyard, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England.

    Barton was Britain’s counterpart to American John Greenleaf Whittier. Like Whittier, he was called the “Quaker Poet.” Barton attended a Quaker school in Ipswich. In 1798, he was apprenticed to a Mr. S. Jesup, a shopkeeper at Halstead, Essex, with whom he stayed until 1806. Barton then moved to Woodbridge, Suffolk, and entered into business with his brother as a coal and corn merchant. He married, but his wife died after only a year. Barton then moved to Liverpool for a short while, but returned to Woodbridge in 1810. A bank clerk by profession, he wrote 10 books of poems, many of which became hymns. His works include:

• Devotional Verses, 1826
• Household Verses, 1849

    Hymns by Bernard Barton include:

1. Around Bethesda’s Healing Wave
2. Fear Not, Zion’s Sons and Daughters
3. Hath the Invitation Ended?
4. Lamp of Our Feet
5. Say Not the Law Divine
6. See We Not Beyond the Portal?
7. There Is a Life More Dear
8. Those Who Live in Love Shall Know
9. Walk in the Light
10. We Journey Through a Vale of Tears
11. Wouldst Thou Share This Benediction?