William John Sparrow Simpson (20 June 1859 – 13 February 1952) was an English

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest and writer. He wrote the libretto for

John Stainer Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of ''The Crucifixion (Stainer), The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some Angli ...

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

The Crucifixion The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being nailed to a cross.The instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus forming a "cruciform" or T-shaped structure. ...

'' (1887), several hymns, and more than fifty books. He was chaplain of

Ilford Hospital Chapel The Hospital Chapel of St Mary the Virgin and St Thomas of Canterbury, Ilford, also known as Ilford Hospital Chapel is on Ilford Hill in Ilford. It is an ancient charitable foundation dating from about 1140, and is the oldest building in the Lon ...

from 1904 until his death.

Life

Sparrow Simpson was born in London, the son of the Rev William Sparrow Simpson, a minor canon of

St Paul's St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

and rector of

St Vedast, Foster Lane Saint Vedast Foster Lane or Saint Vedast-alias-Foster, a church in Foster Lane, in the City of London, is dedicated to St. Vedast (Foster is an Anglicisation of the name "Vaast", as the saint is known in continental Europe), a French saint whos ...

."Canon W. J. Sparrow Simpson", ''The Times'', 18 March 1952, p. 8 He was educated at

St Paul's School, London St Paul's School is a Selective school, selective Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent day school (with limited boarding school, boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by Rive ...

and, from 1878,

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. As an undergraduate he was awarded the

Chancellor's Gold Medal The Chancellor's Gold Medal is annual award for poetry open to undergraduates at the University of Cambridge, paralleling Oxford University's Newdigate Prize. It was first presented by Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh ...

for English verse in a competition judged by

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian literature, Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentar ...

; he graduated with a first class degree in theology in 1882. In the same year he was ordained deacon, and went to Christ Church, Albany Street in Marylebone, London as curate. In the following year, in which he was ordained priest, he wrote the first of two libretti for choral works by

. These were the

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

''St Mary Magdalen'' (1883) and the

'' (1887). Sparrow Simpson was vicar of St Mark's, Regent’s Park, 1888–1904, and moved to

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

in 1904 as chaplain to the ancient almshouse foundation, the

. He retained the post until his death at the age of 92."Simpson, Rev. W. J. Sparrow’"
Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 2014, retrieved 16 November 2014 He became a Doctor of Divinity in 1911 and an honorary canon of

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

in 1919. At Ilford, he housed and trained

ordinands Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform vari ...

, known to the congregation as "the Doctor's boys". To finance the training he sold the Chancellor's Medal he had won at Cambridge.Hopewell, Janet
"Stainer's Librettist, W. J. Sparrow Simpson"
''The Musical Times'', April 1983, pp. 255–256 The Ilford post was not onerous, and gave him ample time for research and writing. He became an authority on the life and doctrines of

St Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

. In the view of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' the most important of his more than fifty books was ''The Resurrection and Modern Thought'' (1911). He published several hymns, originally part of his libretto for Stainer, " All For Jesus, All For Jesus", "Jesus, the Crucified, prays for me", "Cross of Jesus, cross of sorrow", "Holy Jesu, by thy passion" and "I adore thee, I adore thee""W J Sparrow Simpson"
Hymnary, retrieved 16 November 2014 He was a strong proponent of

Anglo-Catholicism Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

and was editor of the high-church ''English Church Review'' in the years before the First World War. Sparrow Simpson died in Ilford at the age of 92.

Books

The books Sparrow Simpson chose to mention in his ''

Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...

'' article were: *''The Catholic Conception of the Church'', 1914 *''Reconciliation and Atonement'', 1916 *''Reconciliation between God and Man'', 1917 *''The Prayer of Consecration'', 1917 *''French Catholics in the Nineteenth Century'', 1918 *''Broad Church Theology'', 1919 *''South Indian Schemes'', 1930 *''The History of the Anglo-Catholic Revival from 1845 to 1932 *''Dispensations'', 1936. *:Source: ''Who's Who''

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, W J Sparrow 1859 births 1952 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English Anglican theologians English Christian theologians Anglican clergy from London