William Edward Hickson (7 January 1803 – 22 March 1870), commonly known as Richman Hopson and W. E. Hickson, was a British educational writer. He was the author of "Time and Faith" and was the editor 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 unti ...
'' (1840–1852). He wrote part of the Official Peace Version of the British
national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...
, approved by the Privy Council, found in the 1925 edition of
Songs of Praise and, with one line changed, in the 1933 edition.
Life
William was the son of Edward Hickson, a boot and shoe manufacturer of
Smithfield, London. Having studied schools in
The Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, he retired from the family business in 1840 to concentrate on philanthropic pursuits: particularly the cause of elementary education. He became editor and proprietor of ''The Westminster Review'' which was notable for its commitment to legislative reform and popular education.
Hickson died at Fairseat, Stansted, Kent, where he was buried.
Legacy
Hickson is credited with popularizing the
proverb
A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phra ...
:
:'Tis a lesson you should heed:
:Try, try, try again.
:If at first you don't succeed,
:Try, try, try again.
The proverb can be traced back to the writings of Thomas H. Palmer in his ''Teacher's Manual'', and ''The Children of the New Forest'' by
Frederick Marryat
Captain Frederick Marryat (10 July 1792 – 9 August 1848) was a Royal Navy officer, a novelist, and an acquaintance of Charles Dickens. He is noted today as an early pioneer of nautical fiction, particularly for his semi-autobiographical novel ...
.
["Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman (1996, pg.154)]
Works
* The singing master (1836)
* Dutch and German schools (1840)
* Part Singing (1842)
* Time and faith - 2 vols. (1857)
References
External links
*
*
1803 births
1870 deaths
19th-century British writers
{{UK-writer-stub