Henry East Havergal (22 July 1820 – 12 January 1875) was a priest in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

and an organist. Havergal, eldest son of

William Henry Havergal William Henry Havergal (18 January 1793 – 19 April 1870) was an Anglican clergyman, writer, composer and hymnwriter, and a publisher of sermons and pamphlets. He was the father of the hymn-writer and poet Frances Ridley Havergal and the cler ...

(1793–1870), was born at

Coaley Coaley is a village in the England, English county of Gloucestershire roughly 4 miles from the town of Dursley, and 5 miles from the town of Stroud, Gloucestershire, Stroud. The village drops from the edge of the Cotswold Hills, overlooked by Fr ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, 22 July 1820. His mother died in 1848 and his father remarried in 1851. His sister,

Frances Ridley Havergal Frances Ridley Havergal (14 December 1836 – 3 June 1879) was an English religious poet and hymnwriter. ''Take My Life and Let it Be'' and ''Thy Life for Me'' (also known as ''I Gave My Life for Thee'') are two of her best known hymns. She also ...

(1836–1879), became well known as a writer of religious poetry. Newcollege wall-hall-chapel

From 1828 to 1834 he served as a chorister in

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, and was bible-clerk there from 1839. He matriculated from

Magdalen Hall Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colleg ...

on 18 May 1839, graduating B.A. 1843 and M.A. 1846. In 1843, he became chaplain of Christ Church, and served in a like capacity at New College from 1844 to 1847. From 1847 till his death, he was

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Cople Cople is a village and civil parish in the English county of Bedfordshire. The name Cople is derived from the phrase ''Cock Pool'', a place where chickens were kept, that was mentioned in the Domesday Book. History Cople is part of the ancie ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

. Also in 1847, he married, on 16 September, Frances Mary, eldest daughter of George J. A. Walker. For his church at Cople, he built an

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

with his own hands, which possessed the peculiarity that it was an F organ, that being the note to which the ordinary compass of the human voice extends. On this instrument, he carried out many experiments, and regularly acted as organist. He further constructed a chiming apparatus, and was in the habit of chiming the bells himself before service. For some time, he was the conductor of a musical society at

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. He possessed a natural

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

voice, and in a trial of

William Crotch William Crotch (5 July 177529 December 1847) was an English composer and organist. According to the American musicologist Nicholas Temperley, Crotchwas "a child prodigy without parallel in the history of music", and was certainly the most disti ...

's oratorio ''

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

'' he played the

double-bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

and sang the alto part in the choruses at the same time. He was also a performer on the

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

. He died of

apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...

at Cople vicarage on 12 January 1875, aged 54.

Musical publications

* ‘A Selection from the Hymns and Songs of the Church by George Wither,’ 1846. * ‘The Preces and Litany of T. Tallis, to which is added a Short Form of Chanting the Preces and Litany,’ 1847; never before printed. * ‘Christmas Carols for one or more Voices,’ 1850. * ‘Hymn for Advent—Dies Iræ,’ by W. J. Irons; the music by H. E. Havergal, 1854. * ‘Tunes, Chants and Responses,’ 1865. * ‘Hymn Tunes, part i. Original, part ii. Harmonised and Selected,’ 1866. * ‘Forty-two Chants, each combining two principal Melodies,’ 1870 Also Te Deums, hymns, and songs.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Havergal, Henry 1820 births 1875 deaths People from Stroud District Alumni of Magdalen Hall, Oxford 19th-century English Anglican priests English composers English classical organists British male organists Chaplains of New College, Oxford Choristers of New College, Oxford Musicians from Gloucestershire 19th-century British composers 19th-century English musicians People from Cople 19th-century British male musicians Male classical organists 19th-century organists