12 Women Hymn Writers
There have been no outstanding women composers of church tunes but some of our finest lyrics have been contributed by women, as the following list from the Hymnary will show:
German Katharina von Schlegel, b. 1697, “Be still, my soul” (54) Henriette Luise von Hayn, 1724-82, “Weil ich Jesu” (430) English Anne Steele, 1716-78, “Father, whate’er of earthly bliss” (251) Marianne Nunn, 1778-1847, “One is kind above all others” (447) Harriet Auber, 1773-1862, “Our blest Redeemer” (138) Dorothy Ann Thrupp, 1779-1847, “Saviour, like a shepherd” (395) Charlotte Elliott, 1789-1871, “Just as I am, without one plea” (458) Margaret Mackay, 1802-87, “Asleep in Jesus” (314) Sarah Flower Adams, 1805-48, “Nearer my God, to Thee” (202) Jemima Luke, 1813-1906, “I think when I read that sweet” (427) Anne Brontë, 1820-49, “Believe not those who say” (210) Cecil Frances Alexander, 1823-95, “There is a green hill” (104) Adelaide Proctor, 1825-64, “My God, I thank Thee” (177) Elizabeth Clephane, 1830-69, “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” (112) Anna L. Coghill, 1836-1907, “Work, for the night is coming” (221) Frances R. Havergal, 1836-79, “Take my life and let it be” (215) Dorothy Blomfield, 1858-1932, “O perfect love, all human” (312) Jessie Adams, 1863—, “I feel the winds of God today” (391) (Translators) Frances Cox, 1812-97, “Sing praise to God” (512) Jane L. Borthwick, 1813-97, “Be still my soul” (54) Sarah Borthwick Findlater, 1823-1907, “O happy home” (358) Catherine Winkworth, 1829-78. Numerous hymns. Foremost translator of German chorales. American Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811-96, “Still, still with Thee” (23) Elizabeth Prentiss, 1818-78, “More love to Thee, O Christ” (472) Susan Warner, 1819-85, “Jesus bids us shine” (420) Anna B. Warner, 1820-1915, “Jesus loves me! this I know” (428) Fanny Crosby, 1820-1915, “Rescue the perishing” (497) and many others Eliza Scudder, 1821-96, “Thou Grace Divine, encircling all” (57) Phoebe Cary, 1824-71, “One sweetly solemn thought” (264) Katherine Hankey, 1834-1911, “I love to tell the story” (493) Mary Ann Thomson, 1834-1923, “O Zion, haste” (328) Annie Sherwood Hawks, 1835-1918, “I need Thee every hour” (187) Mary Lathbury, 1841-1913, “Day is dying in the west” (31) “Break Thou the bread of life” (288) Katherine Lee Bates, 1859-1929, “O beautiful for spacious” (343)