Matthew Bridges (14 July 1800 – 6 October 1894) was a British-Canadian

hymnodist A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who composed many of ...

Life

Bridges was born in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England on 14 July 1800, the youngest son of John Bridges of

Maldon, Essex Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced ...

and brother of the Rev Charles Bridges, a priest of the Church of England. He matriculated at

Magdalen Hall, Oxford 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 ...

in 1831. Matthew Bridges' career as an author began with his poem ''Jerusalem Regained'' at the age of 25 in 1825. Although in his early life Bridges (who was raised in a Church of England environment) was skeptical of Roman Catholicism as evidenced by his 1828 book ''The Roman Empire Under Constantine the Great'', the influence of

John Henry Cardinal Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

led him to convert to Roman Catholicism in 1848 at the age of 48, a faith to which he adhered for the remaining four-and-a-half decades of his life. Later in life, Bridges lived for a time in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, but returned to England and died in

Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 12,569 in 2011, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town h ...

, Devon on 6 October 1894 at the age of 94. He is buried there in the cemetery of the Convent of the Assumption.

Works

Some of the more popular hymns written by Bridges include: * Behold the Lamb of God! O Thou for sinners slain. This hymn is included in the 1861 edition of the

Hymns Ancient and Modern ''Hymns Ancient and Modern'' is a hymnal in common use within the Church of England, a result of the efforts of the Oxford Movement. The hymnal was first published in 1861. The organization publishing it has now been formed into a charitable ...

. *

Crown Him with Many Crowns "Crown Him with Many Crowns" is an 1851 hymn with lyrics written by Matthew Bridges and Godfrey Thring and sung to the tune 'Diademata' by Sir George Job Elvey. The hymn appears in many hymnals. The full twelve verses of the song (which has two- ...

* Man of sorrows, wrapt in grief * My God, accept my heart this day

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridges, Matt 1800 births 1894 deaths Christian hymnwriters English hymnwriters Writers from Essex English emigrants to Canada Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism