Francis Pott (hymnwriter)
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Francis Pott | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 December 1832 |
| Died | 26 October 1909 (aged 76) Kent, England |
| Alma mater | Brasenose College, Oxford |
| Occupations | Hymnwriter, Anglican priest |
| Known for |
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Francis Pott (29 December 1832 – 26 October 1909) was an English hymnwriter and Anglican priest. He is noted as the author or translator of a number of popular Christian hymns including "Angel Voices, Ever Singing" and "The Strife is O'er, the Battle Done". His hymns are an established part of the Anglican church music repertoire and commonly feature in hymnals such as The New English Hymnal.
Francis Pott was born in Southwark, London, the great-grandson of the surgeon Percivall Pott. His father was the proprietor of the family business, the Potts Vinegar factory (the site occupied today by the Sumner Buildings housing estate), and Francis grew up in a neighbouring house.[1][2] The family firm was later taken over by Francis's brother, Robert Pott.[3] He was also the brother-in-law of Constance Mary Fearon, Mrs Henry Pott (d. 1915) of South Kensington, who married his brother Henry, who was the father of the artist Constance Mary Pott (1862 - 1957), who was an assistant to Sir Frank Short at the Royal College of Art.[4]
Education
Pott studied classical languages at Brasenose College, Oxford when Edward Bouverie Pusey was an influential figure in the Oxford Movement,[5] graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1854 and obtaining his Master's degree in 1857.[6][7]
In 1856 he was ordained into the Anglican priesthood, initially serving as a curate in Bishopsworth, Gloucestershire (1856-8), before going on to serve in Ardingly, Berkshire from 1858 to 1861 and subsequently in Ticehurst, Sussex from 1861 to 1866. In 1866 he was appointed Rector of Northill in Bedfordshire.[6][7] (In this context Northill is sometimes confused with the parish of Norhill in Cambridgeshire.)
In 1891, Pott was forced to resign from active work as a priest due to his increasing deafness. He went to live at the Birchetts, Speldhurst in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, where he continued in his hymn-writing work.[8][9] Francis Pott died at Speldhurst on 26 October 1909.[5][10][11] Owing to his involvement with the music and hymnody of the Anglican Church, Pott is frequently confused with his namesake and relative Francis Pott (b. 1957), the composer of the corpus of sacred choral and organ music sometimes misattributed to his ancestor.
