Robert M. Millman

Millman, Robert Malcolm. (Woodstock, Ontario, October 10, 1878--June 3, 1945, St. Catharine's, Ont.). Anglican. University of Toronto, B.A., 1900; M.A., 1904; B.D., 1930. Curate in Toronto, 1904-1909; missionary at Hiroshima and Toyohashi, Japan, 1911-1928; professor at Emmanuel College, Saskatoon, 1928-1944. Canada's pre-1914 drive toward prohibition drew only tepid support from the Anglican Church, to which most brewers and distillers belonged; hence the main compiler of the Book of Common Praise (1908) could say to Millman in October 1906, "If you want to immortalize yourself, write a dignified and useful temperance hymn." Within an hour, Millman had complied by writing and mailing "Temple of God's holy Spirit;" a second, more studied lyric was rejected.

--Hugh D. McKellar, DNAH Archives