H. J. Betts

Betts, Henry John, was born 1825, at Great Yarmouth, where his father was a Baptist minister. He entered the Baptist ministry in 1847, and laboured successively in London, Edinburgh, Bradford (Yorks.), Manchester, Darlington, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Mr. Betts has published a small volume of hymns and poetical translations, entitled Early Blossoms, 1842; two vols. of sermons on Scripture Localities and their Associations, 1853; Lectures on Elijah, 1856; and at different times single sermons and lectures. For some years he was editor of the Primitive Church Magazine. His Children’s Hosannah appealed in 1864. From it the following hymns are in common use:
1. Beautiful Star, whose heavenly light. Christ the Star.
2. Jesus, Thou art meek and lowly. Jesus desired.
3. Our Father God, Who art in heaven. The Lord's Prayer.
4. There is a lamp whose steady light. Holy Scripture. These are found in Major's Book of Praise, and some other collections. [Rev. W. R. Stevenson, M.A.]

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)