Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander

1818-1895

Born: Early April 1818, Redcross, County Wicklow, Ireland. Died: October 12, 1895, Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Buried: City Cemetery, Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

Alexander’s husband was William Alexander, bishop of Derry and Raphoe, and later the Anglican primate for Ireland. Cecil and her sister founded a school for the deaf, and she set up the Girls’ Friendly Society in Londonderry. Cecil Alexander wrote about 400 hymns in her lifetime. Her works include:

• Verses From the Holy Scriptures, 1846
• Hymns for Little Children, 1848
• Narrative Hymns for Village Schools, 1853
• Poems on Subjects in the Old Testament, 1854 & 1857
• Hymns Descriptive and Devotional, 1858
• The Legend of the Golden Prayer, 1859

Hymns:

1. All Things Bright and Beautiful
2. Do No Sinful Action
3. Eternal Gates Lift Up Their Heads, The
4. For All Thy Saints, a Noble Throng
5. Forgive Them, O My Father
6. He Is Coming, He Is Coming
7. He Is Risen
8. His Are the Thousand Sparkling Rills
9. In Nazareth in Olden Times
10. Jesus Calls Us
11. O Love Most Patient, Give Me Grace
12. Once in David’s Royal City
13. Roseate Hues of Early Dawn, The
14. Saw You Never, in the Twilight?
15. Souls in Death and Darkness Lying
16. Spirit of God, That Moved of Old
17. St. Patrick’s Breastplate
18. There Is a Green Hill Far Away