Catherine Winkworth (13 September 1827 – 1 July 1878) was an English

hymnwriter A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who is traditional ...

and educator. She translated the German

chorale A chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one o ...

tradition of church hymns for English speakers, for which she is recognized in the calendar of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of December 31, 2023, it ...

. She also worked for wider educational opportunities for girls, and translated biographies of two founders of religious sisterhoods. When 16, Winkworth appears to have coined a once well-known political pun, ''peccavi'', "I have Sindh", relating to the British occupation of

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

colonial India Colonial India was the part of the Indian subcontinent that was occupied by European colonial powers during and after the Age of Discovery. European power was exerted both by conquest and trade, especially in spice trade, spices. The search for ...

Early life

Catherine Winkworth was born on 13 September 1827 at 20 Ely Place,

Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...

on the edge of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. She was the fourth daughter of Henry Winkworth, a silk merchant. Henry's third daughter, Selina Mary, was the mother of Norman Collie. Another sister Susanna Winkworth (1820–1884) was also a translator, mainly of German devotional works. In 1829, her family moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, where her father had a silk mill and which city figured in the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

. Winkworth studied under the Rev. William Gaskell, minister of Cross Street Chapel, and with Dr.

James Martineau James Martineau (; 21 April 1805 – 11 January 1900) was a British Christian philosophy, religious philosopher influential in the history of Unitarianism. He was the brother of the atheist social theory, social theorist, abolitionist Harriet M ...

, both of them eminent British Unitarians. Urban historian Harold L. Platt notes that in the Victorian period "The importance of membership in this Unitarian congregation cannot be overstated: as the fountainhead of

Manchester Liberalism Manchester Liberalism (also called the Manchester School, Manchester Capitalism and Manchesterism) comprises the political, economic and social movements of the 19th century that originated in Manchester. Led by Richard Cobden and John Bright ...

it exerted tremendous influence on the city and the nation for a generation." She subsequently moved with the family to Clifton, near

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Chorale tradition

Catherine Winkworth spent a year in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, during which time she took an interest in German

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

ody. Around 1854, she published her book ''Lyra Germanica'', a collection of German hymns which she had chosen and translated into English. A further collection followed in 1858. During 1863, she published ''The Chorale Book for England'', which was coedited by the composers William Sterndale Bennett and Otto Goldschmidt. In 1869 she followed this with ''Christian Singers of Germany''. According to ''The Harvard University Hymn Book'', Winkworth "did more than any other single individual to make the rich heritage of German hymnody available to the English-speaking world." Four examples of translations by her hand are published in ''The Church Hymn Book 1872'' (Nos 344, 431, 664 and 807). Among the best-known chorales translated by Winkworth are "From Heaven Above to Earth I Come" (''" Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her"'',

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

, 1534); "Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying" (''" Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"'', Philipp Nicolai, 1599); "How Brightly Beams the Morning Star!" (''" Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern"'', Nicolai, 1597); and the Christmas hymn "A Spotless Rose" (''" Es ist ein Ros entsprungen"'', anon, 1599). She translated Gerhardt's " Die güldne Sonne voll Freud und Wonne" into "The golden sunbeams with their joyous gleams".

Women's education

Winkworth was also involved deeply in promoting women's education, as the secretary of the Clifton Association for Higher Education for Women, and a supporter of the Clifton High School for Girls, where a school house is named after her, and a member of

Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College (CLC) is a private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding and day school for girls aged 11 or older in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school was established in 1853 to provide "a sound academic edu ...

. She was likewise governor of the Red Maids' School in

Westbury-on-Trym Westbury-on-Trym (sometimes written without hyphenation) is a suburb in the north of the City of Bristol, near the suburbs of Stoke Bishop, Westbury Park, Henleaze, Southmead and Henbury, in the southwest of England. The place is partly na ...

in the city of Bristol. Winkworth translated biographies of two founders of sisterhoods for the poor and the sick: ''Life of Pastor Fliedner'', 1861, and ''Life of Amelia Sieveking'', 1863. Winkworth has been described as "an early feminist".

''Peccavi''

According to the ''Encyclopedia of Britain'' by

Bamber Gascoigne Arthur Bamber Gascoigne (, 24 January 1935 – 8 February 2022) was an English television presenter and author. He was the original quizmaster of '' University Challenge'', which initially ran from 1962 to 1987. Early life and education Gasc ...

(1993), it was Catherine Winkworth who, learning of General Charles James Napier's ruthless and unauthorised, but successful campaign to conquer the Indian province of

, "remarked to her teacher that Napier's despatch to the governor-general of India, after capturing Sindh, should have been ''Peccavi''" (Latin for "I have sinned": a

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

on "I have Sindh"). She sent her joke to the new humorous magazine '' Punch'', which printed it on 18 May 1844. She was then sixteen years old. The '' Oxford Dictionary of Quotations'' attributes this to Winkworth, noting that it was assigned to her in ''

Notes and Queries ''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inner ...

'' in May 1954. The pun has usually been credited to Napier himself. The rumour's persistence over the decades led to investigations in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

archives, as well as comments by William Lee-Warner in 1917 and Lord Zetland,

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India secretary or the Indian secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of ...

, in 1936.PECCAVI': A Good Story Killed", ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 14 February 1936.

Death

Winkworth died suddenly of heart disease near

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

on 1 July 1878 and was buried in Monnetier, in Upper Savoy. A monument to her memory was erected in

Bristol Cathedral Bristol Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bristol. The cathedral was originally an abbey dedicated to St ...

. She is commemorated on the

Calendar of Saints The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

of the

on 1 July.

Hymn books

''Lyra Germanica, Hymns for the Sundays and chief festivals of the Christian Year, Translated from the German''
1855 edition compiled by Catherine Winkworth
''The Chorale Book for England: A Complete Hymn-book for Public and Private Worship''
Catherine Winkworth, William Sterndale Bennett and Otto Goldschmidt (1863)
''Lyra Germanica: the Christian life''
Catherine Winkworth (1868)
''Christian Singers of Germany''
Catherine Winkworth (1869)
''Songs for the household: Sacred poetry''
Catherine Winkworth (1882)

References

External links

(The Cyber Hymnal)
''Biographies and published works''
(

Christian Classics Ethereal Library The Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) is a digital library that provides free electronic copies of Christian scripture and literature texts. Description CCEL is a volunteer-based project founded and directed by Harry Plantinga, a p ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Winkworth, Catherine 1827 births 1878 deaths 19th-century Anglicans 19th-century English women writers 19th-century Christian saints 19th-century English translators 19th-century English women musicians Anglican saints Anglican writers Burials in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Christian female saints of the Late Modern era Church of England hymnwriters English Anglicans First-wave feminism in the United Kingdom German–English translators People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar People from Holborn Women and education English women hymnwriters Writers from the London Borough of Camden