William Hiley Bathurst

Born: August 28, 1796, Clevedale (near Bristol), England.

Died:  November 25, 1877, Lydney Park, Gloucestershire, England.

Buried:  At the parish church in Lydney, Gloucestershire, where he owned the family seat.
There is a plaque commemorating him inside the church,
and the 14th Century cross in Lydney was restored in 1878 in his memory.

    Bathurst was educated at Winchester, and at Christ Church, Oxford, England, graduating in 1818. From 1820-1852, he was rector of Barwick-in-Elmet, near Leeds. However, he could not reconcile his doctrinal views with the Book of Common Prayer, and retired from the ministry. For some time he was Member of Parliament for Bristol. His works include:

Hymns

  1. Before Thy Cross, My Dying Lord
  2. Before Thy Mercy Seat, O Lord
  3. Behold What Unspeakable Love
  4. Does the Lord of Glory Speak?
  5. Ere the World with Light Invested
  6. Eternal Spirit, by Whose Power
  7. Except the Lord Our Labors Bless
  8. Full of Weakness and of Sin
  9. Glory to the Almighty Father
  10. Hark! The Distant Isles Proclaim
  11. Holy Lord, Our Hearts Prepare
  12. Holy Spirit from on High
  13. How Blest Are They Who Feel the Weight
  14. How Strange That Souls Whom Jesus Feeds
  15. How Sweet It Is in Early Youth
  16. How Sweet the Hour of Closing Day
  17. Jesus, if Thou My Shepherd Be
  18. Jesus, Thy Church with Longing Eyes
  19. Led by a Father’s Gentle Hand
  20. Lord, a Better Heart Bestow
  21. Lord, Bid the Light Arise
  22. Lord, Shed Thy Glory as of Old
  23. Lord, What Blessed Consola­tion
  24. Lord, When Our Offerings We Present
  25. O for a Beam of Heavenly Light
  26. O for a Faith That Will Not Shrink
  27. O for that Flame of Living Fire
  28. O Give Thanks unto the Lord
  29. O Savior, May We Never Rest
  30. Shepherd of Israel, from Above
  31. This the Day The Lord Hath Called His Own
  32. When the World My Heart Is Rending
  33. Why Should Our Tears in Sorrow Flow
  34. Ye Servants of the Living God