Arabella Katherine Hankey (12 January 1834 – 9 May 1911) was an English

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

and

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

who is best known for being the author of the poem ''The Old, Old Story'', from which the

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 ...

s " Tell me the old, old story" and " I Love to Tell the Story" were derived.

Biography

Hankey was born in 1834, the daughter of a prosperous banker in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Her family were devout

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 ...

s and members of the

Clapham Sect The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Holy Trinity Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the Established Church, established (and do ...

. She was inspired by the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

revival of

John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...

and organised and taught in

Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

s in London. She then did

work as a

in South Africa, assisting her brother. In 1866, she had a serious illness and was bedridden for a long convalescence. During this time, Hankey wrote her long poem, titled ''Tell me the Old, Old Story of unseen things above'', with 50 verses in two parts: ''The Story Wanted'' and ''The Story Told''. Hankey's masterpiece was put to music by the American composer

William Howard Doane William Howard Doane (February 3, 1832 – December 24, 1915) was a manufacturer, inventor, hymn writer, choral director, church leader and philanthropist. He composed over 2,000 church hymns. More than seventy patents are credited to him for ...

. She recovered from the illness and lived to the age of 77, dying in 1911.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hankey, Katherine 1834 births 1911 deaths 19th-century Anglicans 19th-century English poets 19th-century English women musicians 19th-century English women writers 19th-century evangelicals 20th-century Anglicans 20th-century English poets 20th-century English women musicians 20th-century English women writers 20th-century evangelicals Anglican missionaries in South Africa British missionaries in South Africa Anglican poets English women hymnwriters Christianity in London Church of England hymnwriters Evangelical Anglican hymnwriters English Anglican missionaries English expatriates in South Africa English women poets Evangelical Anglicans Evangelical missionaries

Biography

See also

References

External links