Author of "What bliss harmonies above" Conder, Joan Elizabeth, née Thomas, the wife of Josiah Conder, was the daughter of Roger Thomas, and granddaughter of the sculptor, L. F. Roubiliac, b. April 6, 1785, d. Jan. 22, 1877. Mrs. Conder contributed poems to The Associate Minstrels, 1810, under the signature "E."; to her husband's work, The Star in the East, 1824, anonymously; to the Congregational Hymn Book, 1836, in her own name; and to The Choir and Oratory, 1837, with an asterisk. Of these, seven were given in Conder's Hymns of Praise, Prayer and Devout Meditation, 1856. Of these the following appeared in the Congregational Hymn Book, 1886, and through that work have come into common us.:—
1. The hours of evening close. Saturday Evening.
2. When Mary to the Heavenly Guest. Mary anointing the feet of Jesus.
3. What blissful harmonies above. The heavenly choir.
4. Not Thy garment's hem alone. Desiring Pardon. This last is the most popular of her hymns. The tune St. Faith's was composed for it by Mr. Beale, and published in The Psalmist, 1842. [Rev. F. J. Faulding, D.D. ]
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
Joan E. Conder
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