William Henry Havergal

William Henry Havergal (18 January 1793 – 19 April 1870) was an Anglican clergyman, writer, composer and hymnwriter, and a publisher of sermons and pamphlets. He was the father of the hymn-writer and poet Frances Ridley Havergal and the clergyman and organist Henry East Havergal (1820–1875).

Havergal was born in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire and educated at the Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood and St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he gained a BA in 1815 and an MA in 1819. He was ordained deacon in 1816 and priest in 1817, and became rector of Astley in Worcestershire in 1829, St. Nicholas, Worcester in 1842, and perpetual curate of Shareshill near Wolverhampton in 1860. He died at Leamington Spa, Warwickshire and is buried at Astley.

Havergal, only son of William Havergal, who died 2 September 1854, by Mary, daughter of Thomas Hopkins, was born at Chipping Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, on 18 January 1793; commenced his education at Princes Risborough in 1801, and entered the Merchant Taylors' School in July 1806. During his holidays he cultivated music, and from the age of fourteen often played the organ in his parish church. He was originally intended for the medical profession, but eventually went to Oxford, matriculating from St Edmund Hall on 10 July 1812. He graduated BA 1816, MA 1819, and was ordained 24 March 1816.

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