Jane Cross Simpson (1811–1886) was a Scottish writer, known as a hymn-writer and poet.

Life

The daughter of James Bell, advocate, and sister to

Henry Glassford Bell Henry Glassford Bell (5 November 18037 January 1874) was a Scotland, Scottish lawyer, poet and historian. Life Born in Glasgow, the son of advocate James Bell, he received his education at the High School of Glasgow, Glasgow High School and at ...

and

Jonathan Anderson Bell Jonathan Anderson Bell (3 November 1806 – 28 February 1865) was a Scottish architect, known also as a draughtsman for watercolour paintings. Biography Bell was born in Glasgow, the third child and second son of advocate James Bell and Janet Hami ...

, she was born Jane Cross Bell in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 12 November 1811. Educated by her father, she studied the classics, and travelled much on the continent. For some years from 1822, her father was assessor and town-clerk of

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

, and she contributed to the ''Greenock Advertiser'' under the pseudonym "Gertrude". After her husband's death, Jane Simpson resided with her married daughter, Mrs. Napier, at

Portobello, Edinburgh Portobello is a coastal suburb of Edinburgh in eastern central Scotland. It lies 3 miles (5 km) east of the city centre, facing the Firth of Forth, between the suburbs of Joppa, Edinburgh, Joppa and Craigentinny. Although historically it ...

, then

Newport-on-Tay Newport-on-Tay is a town in the north-east of Fife in Scotland. The Fife Coastal Path passes through Newport-on-Tay. The area itself has views of the two bridges that cross the River Tay and distant views of the Scottish Highlands. History T ...

, and then

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. She died at Aberdeen on 17 June 1886.

Works

In 1831, as "Gertrude", Jane Bell wrote a noted hymn on prayer, ''Go when the morning shineth'', for the ''

Edinburgh Literary Journal Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

'', then edited by her brother Henry. She also contributed, in prose and verse, to the ''Scottish Christian Herald''. She published ''Piety of Daily Life'', tales and sketches, in 1836. As Jane Simpson, she published: * ''April Hours'', a poem, 1838. * ''Woman's History'', 1848. * ''Linda, or Beauty and Genius'', 1859; 2nd edit. 1884. * ''Household edition of Burns's Works in Prose and Verse, edited by Gertrude'', 2 vols. 1870. * ''Picture Poems, and Linda and other Poems'', 1879. In her later years Simpson wrote for ''

Good Words ''Good Words'' was a 19th-century monthly periodical established in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consist ...

'', the ''Christian Leader'', and other periodicals. Her hymns appeared in: Charles Rogers's ''Lyra Britannica'', 1867;

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 ...

's ''Hymns'', 1873;

Ebenezer Prout Ebenezer Prout (1 March 1835 – 5 December 1909) was an English musical theorist, writer, music teacher and composer, whose instruction, afterwards embodied in a series of standard works still used today, underpinned the work of many British cl ...

's ''Psalmist'', 1878; and the ''Scottish Evangelical Hymnal'', 1878.

Family

In 1837 Jane Bell married her half-cousin, J. Bell Simpson, an artist and bibliographer, who was librarian of the Stirling Library, Glasgow, from 1851 to 1860; he published in 1872 ''Literary and Dramatic Sketches'', and died on 17 December 1874. She was survived by two daughters out of a family of eight.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Jane Cross 1811 births 1886 deaths Church of Scotland hymnwriters Scottish poets British women hymnwriters 19th-century Scottish women musicians 19th-century Scottish women writers