William John Sparrow Simpson (20 June 1859 – 13 February 1952) was an English

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest and writer. He wrote the libretto for

John Stainer Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of ''The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some churches of the Anglican Communi ...

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

'' The Crucifixion'' (1887), several hymns, and more than fifty books. He was chaplain of Ilford Hospital Chapel from 1904 until his death.

Life

Sparrow Simpson was born in London, the son of the Rev William Sparrow Simpson, a minor canon of St Paul's and rector of

St Vedast, Foster Lane Saint Vedast Foster Lane or Saint Vedast-alias-Foster, a church in Foster Lane, in the City of London, is dedicated to St. Vedast (Foster is an Anglicisation of the name "Vaast", as the saint is known in continental Europe), a French saint whose ...

."Canon W. J. Sparrow Simpson", ''The Times'', 18 March 1952, p. 8 He was educated at St Paul's School, London and, from 1878,

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. As an undergraduate he was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal for English verse in a competition judged by

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

; he graduated with a first class degree in theology in 1882. In the same year he was ordained deacon, and went to Christ Church, Albany Street in Marylebone, London as curate. In the following year, in which he was ordained priest, he wrote the first of two libretti for choral works by

. These were the

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

''St Mary Magdalen'' (1883) and the

'' The Crucifixion'' (1887). Sparrow Simpson was vicar of St Mark's, Regent’s Park, 1888–1904, and moved to Ilford in 1904 as chaplain to the ancient almshouse foundation, the Ilford Hospital Chapel. He retained the post until his death at the age of 92."Simpson, Rev. W. J. Sparrow’"
Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 2014, retrieved 16 November 2014 He became a Doctor of Divinity in 1911 and an honorary canon of

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

in 1919. At Ilford, he housed and trained ordinands, known to the congregation as "the Doctor's boys". To finance the training he sold the Chancellor's Medal he had won at Cambridge.Hopewell, Janet
"Stainer's Librettist, W. J. Sparrow Simpson"
''The Musical Times'', April 1983, pp. 255–256 The Ilford post was not onerous, and gave him ample time for research and writing. He became an authority on the life and doctrines of

St Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman pr ...

. In the view of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' the most important of his more than fifty books was ''The Resurrection and Modern Thought'' (1911). He published several hymns, originally part of his libretto for Stainer, "

All For Jesus, All For Jesus "All for Jesus, All for Jesus", also titled as "All for Jesus! All for Jesus!" and originally titled "For the Love of Jesus", is an English Christian hymn. It was written in 1887 by W J Sparrow Simpson intended as the closing chorus of John Stain ...

", "Jesus, the Crucified, prays for me", "Cross of Jesus, cross of sorrow", "Holy Jesu, by thy passion" and "I adore thee, I adore thee""W J Sparrow Simpson"
Hymnary, retrieved 16 November 2014 He was a strong proponent of Anglo-Catholicism and was editor of the high-church ''English Church Review'' in the years before the First World War. Sparrow Simpson died in Ilford at the age of 92.

Books

The books Sparrow Simpson chose to mention in his ''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

'' article were: *''The Catholic Conception of the Church'', 1914 *''Reconciliation and Atonement'', 1916 *''Reconciliation between God and Man'', 1917 *''The Prayer of Consecration'', 1917 *''French Catholics in the Nineteenth Century'', 1918 *''Broad Church Theology'', 1919 *''South Indian Schemes'', 1930 *''The History of the Anglo-Catholic Revival from 1845 to 1932 *''Dispensations'', 1936. *:Source: ''Who's Who''

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, W J Sparrow 1859 births 1952 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English Anglican theologians Anglicanism English Christian theologians Anglican clergy from London