Life, Light, and Love

Author: Thomas Haweis

Thomas Haweis (b. Redruth, Cornwall, England, 1734; d. Bath, England, 1820) Initially apprenticed to a surgeon and pharmacist, Haweis decided to study for the ministry at Oxford and was ordained in the Church of England in 1757. He served as curate of St. Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, but was removed by the bishop from that position because of his Methodist leanings. He also was an assistant to Martin Madan at Locke Hospital, London. In 1764 he became rector of All Saints Church in Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, and later served as administrator at Trevecca College, Wales, a school founded by the Countess of Huntingdon, whom Haweis served as chaplain. After completing advanced studies at Cambridge, he published a Bible commentary and a volume… Go to person page >

Enthroned on high, Almighty Lord. T. Haweis. [Whitsuntide.] First published in his Carmina Christo, &c, 1792 (2nd ed., 1802.), No. 15 in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled, "Day of Pentecost." It was included in several of the older collections of Great Britain, but its modern use is mainly confined to America, where it is given in a large number of collections. In some of these, as in H. A. Boardman's Presbyterian Selection of Hymns, 1860, it 13 attributed to "Humphries." This error is as early as J. Conder's Congregational Hymn Book, 1836, if not earlier. Original text in Lyra Britannica 1867, p. 286.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)