Sarah Fuller Flower Adams (or Sally Adams)
(22 February 1805 – 14 August 1848) was an English poet and
hymnwriter
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 ...
.
A selection of hymns she wrote, published by
William Johnson Fox
William Johnson Fox (1 March 1786 – 3 June 1864) was an English Unitarian minister, politician, and political orator.
Early life
Fox was born at Uggeshall Farm, Wrentham, near Southwold, Suffolk on 1 March 1786. His parents were strict Cal ...
, included her best-known one, "
Nearer, My God, to Thee
"Nearer, My God, to Thee" is a 19th-century Christian hymn by Sarah Flower Adams, which retells the story of Jacob's dream. Genesis 28:11–12 can be translated as follows: "So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because t ...
", reportedly played by the band as the
RMS ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...
'' sank in 1912.
Early life and education
Sarah Fuller Flower was born 22 February 1805, at
Old Harlow
Old Harlow is the historic part of the new town and district of Harlow, Essex in England.
Old Harlow is situated in the north-east area of the town and is the oldest area of the town. Old Harlow pre-dates the first written record in the Dome ...
,
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 Grea ...
, and baptised in September 1806 at the Water Lane Independent Chapel in
Bishops Stortford. She was the younger daughter of the radical editor
Benjamin Flower
Benjamin Flower (1755 – 17 February 1829) was an English radical journalist and political writer, and a vocal opponent of his country's involvement in the early stages of the Napoleonic Wars.
Early life
He was born in London, the son of a pro ...
, and his wife Eliza Gould.
[
Her father's mother Martha, sister of the wealthy bankers William Fuller and Richard Fuller, had died the month before Adams' birth. Her elder sister was the composer ]Eliza Flower
Eliza Flower (1803 – 12 December 1846) was a British musician and composer. In addition to her own work, Flower became known for her friendships including those with William Johnson Fox, Robert Browning, John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor.
B ...
.[ Her uncles included Richard Flower, who emigrated to the United States in 1822 and was a founder of the town of Albion, Illinois; and the nonconformist minister ]John Clayton John Clayton may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Writing
*John Clayton (architect) (died 1861), English architect and writer
*John Bell Clayton and Martha Clayton, John Bell Clayton (c. 1907–1955), American writer
*John Clayton (sportswriter) ( ...
.
Her mother died when she was only five years old and initially her father, a liberal in politics and religion, brought the daughters up, taking a hand in their education. The family moved to Dalston
Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas includ ...
in Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
, where they met the writer Harriet Martineau
Harriet Martineau (; 12 June 1802 – 27 June 1876) was an English social theorist often seen as the first female sociologist, focusing on race relations within much of her published material.Michael R. Hill (2002''Harriet Martineau: Theoretic ...
, who was struck by the two sisters and used them for her novel "Deerbrook". In 1823, on a holiday in Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
with friends of the radical preacher William Johnson Fox, the minister of South Place Unitarian Chapel, London, who was a frequent visitor to their home, Adams broke the female record for climbing up Ben Lomond
Ben Lomond (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Laomainn, 'Beacon Mountain'), , is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Me ...
. Back home, the girls became friends with the young poet Robert Browning, who discussed his religious doubts with Adams.[
]
Career
After the father's death, about 1825, the sisters became members of the Fox household. Both sisters began literary pursuits, and Adams first fell ill with what became tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
. Soon afterwards, the sisters moved to Upper Clapton
Clapton is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney.
Clapton is divided into Upper Clapton, in the north, and Lower Clapton to the south. Clapton railway station lies north-east of Charing Cross.
Geography and origi ...
, a suburb of London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. They attached themselves to the religious society worshipping in South Place, Finsbury, under the pastoral care of Fox. He encouraged and sympathized with the sisters, and they in turn helped him in his work. Eliza, the elder, devoted herself to enriching the musical part of the Chapel service, while Adams contributed hymns. Fox was one of the founders of the ''Westminster Review
The ''Westminster Review'' was a quarterly British publication. Established in 1823 as the official organ of the Philosophical Radicals, it was published from 1824 to 1914. James Mill was one of the driving forces behind the liberal journal unt ...
''. and his Unitarian magazine, the ''Monthly Repository
The ''Monthly Repository'' was a British monthly Unitarian periodical which ran between 1806 and 1838. In terms of editorial policy on theology, the ''Repository'' was largely concerned with rational dissent. Considered as a political journal, it ...
'', printed essays, poems and stories by William Bridges Adams
William Bridges Adams (1797 – 23 July 1872) was an English author, inventor and locomotive engineer. He is best known for his patented Adams axle – a successful radial axle design in use on railways in Britain until the end of steam trac ...
, polemicist and railway engineer, whom Adams met at the house of her friend, the feminist philosopher Harriet Taylor Mill
Harriet Taylor Mill (née Hardy; 8 October 1807 – 3 November 1858) was a British philosopher and women's rights advocate. Her extant corpus of writing can be found in ''The Complete Works of Harriet Taylor Mill''. Several pieces can also be fo ...
. The two married in 1834,[ setting up house at ]Loughton
Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...
in Essex. In 1837, he distinguished himself as the author of an elaborate volume on ''English Pleasure Carriages'', and another on ''The Construction of Common Roads and Railroads''. He was also a contributor to some of the principal reviews and newspapers.
Encouraged by her husband, Adams turned to acting and in the 1837 season at Richmond played Lady Macbeth, followed by Portia and Lady Teazle
''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777.
Plot
Act I
Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling Sn ...
, all successes. Though offered a role at Bath, then a springboard for the West End, her health broke down and she returned to literature.[
In 1841, she published her longest work, ''Vivia Perpetua, A Dramatic Poem''. In it, a young wife who refuses to submit to male control and renounce her Christian beliefs is put to death. She contributed to the ''Westminster Review'', including a critique of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry, and wrote political verses, some for the ]Anti-Corn Law League
The Anti-Corn Law League was a successful political movement in Great Britain aimed at the abolition of the unpopular Corn Laws, which protected landowners’ interests by levying taxes on imported wheat, thus raising the price of bread at a tim ...
. Her work often advocated equal treatment for women and for the working class. At the solicitation of her pastor, she also contributed 13 hymns to the compilation prepared by him for the use of his chapel, published 1840–41, in two parts, six in the first and seven in the second part. Of these, the two best known —" Nearer, my God! to Thee" and "He sendeth sun, he sendeth shower"— are in the second part. For this work, her sister, Eliza, wrote 62 tunes. Her only other publication, a catechism for children, entitled ''The Flock at the Fountain'', appeared in 1845. Her hymn "Nearer, my God! to Thee" was introduced to American Christians in the ''Service Book'', published (1844) by Rev. James Freeman Clarke
James Freeman Clarke (April 4, 1810 – June 8, 1888) was an American minister, theologian and author.
Biography
Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, on April 4, 1810, James Freeman Clarke was the son of Samuel Clarke and Rebecca Parker Hull, though h ...
, D.D., of Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, from where it was soon transferred to other collections. A selection of hymns she wrote, published by Fox, included her best-known piece, "Nearer, My God, to Thee", reportedly played by the band as the RMS ''Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...
'' sank in 1912.[
]
Personal life
A Unitarian in belief, she was hampered in her career by deafness that she had inherited from her father and, inheriting their mother's feebleness, both sisters yielded to disease in middle age. Eliza, after a lingering illness, died in December 1846 and, worn down by caring for her invalid sister, Adams' health gradually declined. She died on 14 August 1848 at the age of 43 and was buried beside her sister and parents in the Foster Street cemetery near Harlow.[ At her grave was sung the only other hymn of hers that was widely known, "He sendeth sun, he sendeth shower".
A blue plaque honouring the husband and wife was placed at their Loughton home: they had no children. Richard Garnett wrote of her: "All who knew Mrs. Adams personally speak of her with enthusiasm; she is described as a woman of singular beauty and attractiveness, delicate and truly feminine, high-minded, and in her days of health playful and high-spirited."
]
Selected works
*"Nearer, my God, to Thee"
*"He sendeth sun, he sendeth shower"
*"Creator Spirit! Thou the first."
*"Darkness shrouded Calvary."
*"Gently fall the dews of eve."
*"Go, and watch the Autumn leaves."
*"O hallowed memories of the past."
*"O human heart! thou hast a song."
*"O I would sing a song of praise."
*"O Love! thou makest all things even."
*"Part in Peace! is day before us?"
*"Sing to the Lord! for His mercies are sure."
*"The mourners came at break of day."
References
Citations
Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Sarah Fuller
1805 births
1848 deaths
19th-century English women writers
19th-century British writers
19th-century deaths from tuberculosis
English women poets
English Unitarians
People from Harlow
People from Loughton
English nonconformist hymnwriters
Infectious disease deaths in England
People associated with Conway Hall Ethical Society
British women hymnwriters
19th-century British women musicians
People from Dalston
Tuberculosis deaths in England