Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander

Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander, who wrote the lyrics to some 400 hymns - some of the best-loved of the hymns in the Anglican tradition, in fact - was a woman.  Just didn't know this, that's all!  It's that first name, I guess....

From Cyberhymnal:

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

Sources

• Hatfield, pp. 9-10
• Julian, pp. 38, 1602
• Nutter, p. 387
• Stulken, p. 212

Hymns

1. All Things Bright and Beau­ti­ful
2. Angels Stand Around Thy Throne, The
3. Dear Lord, This Thy Serv­ant’s Day
4. Do No Sin­ful Act­ion
5. Christ Has Ascend­ed Up Again
6. Eternal Gates Lift Up Their Heads, The
   • The Gold­en Gates Are Lift­ed Up
7. Every Morn­ing the Red Sun
8. For All Thy Saints, a No­ble Throng
9. Forgive Them, O My Fa­ther
10. Forsaken Once, and Thrice De­nied
11. From Out the Cloud of Am­ber Light
12. He Is Com­ing, He Is Com­ing
13. He Is Risen
14. His Are the Thou­sand Spark­ling Rills
15. How Good Is the Almighty God
16. In Nazareth in Olden Times
17. In the Rich Man’s Garden
18. It Was Early in the Morn­ing
19. Jesus Calls Us
20. O Love Most Patient, Give Me Grace
21. Once in Royal Da­vid’s City
22. Roseate Hues of Early Dawn, The
23. Saints of God Are Ho­ly Men, The
24. Saw You Never, in the Twilight?
25. So Be It, Lord; the Pray­ers are Prayed
26. Souls in Death and Darkness Lying
27. Spirit of God, That Moved of Old
28. St. Patrick’s Breastplate
29. Still Bright and Blue Doth Jordan Flow
30. There Is a Green Hill Far Away
31. There Is One Way
32. Up in Heaven
33. We Are But Little Children Weak
    • O Lord, the Ho­ly Innocents
34. We Are Little Christ­ian Children
35. We Were Washed in Ho­ly Water
36. When Christ Came Down on Earth of Old
    • O Son of God, in Glory Crowned
37. When of Old the Jewish Mothers
38. When Wound­ed Sore the Strick­en Heart
39. Within the Church­yard, Side by Side