Samuel Crossman (1623 – 4 February 1683) was a minister of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

and a hymn writer. He was born at Bradfield Monachorum, now known as

Bradfield St George Bradfield St. George is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about south of Bury St Edmunds. According to Eilert Ekwall the meaning of the village name is 'broad field'. The ''Domesday Book'' records ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Crossman earned a Bachelor of Divinity at Pembroke College,

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

,. After graduation, he ministered to both an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

congregation at All Saints,

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

, and to a

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

congregation simultaneously. Crossman sympathized with the Puritan cause, and attended the 1661 Savoy Conference, which attempted to update the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

so that both Puritans and Anglicans could use it. The conference failed, and the 1662 Act of Uniformity expelled Crossman along with some 2,000 other Puritan-leaning ministers from the Church of England. He renounced his Puritan affiliations shortly afterwards, and was ordained in 1665, becoming a royal chaplain. He was appointed Prebendary of Bristol Cathedral in 1667 and vicar of Nicholas' Church in Bristol. After becoming treasurer of Bristol Cathedral in 1682, he became Dean in 1683. He died on 4 February 1683 (O.S.; 1684 N.S. – see

Old Style and New Style dates Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...

), at Bristol, and lies buried in the south aisle of the cathedral at Bristol. Upon his death, the Cathedral chancellor wrote "Mr Crossman, our new Dean, died this morning: a man lamented by few either of the city or neighbourhood. He hath left a debt upon our church of £300." Nine of his hymns were published in ''The Young Man's Meditation'', bound with his ''The Young Mans Monitor'' in 1664. The merits of his hymns were not recognized until 1868, when one was included in the '' Anglican Hymn Book'' with its popularity regarded a phenomenon of the century. Several of Crossman's hymns are preserved in the Sacred Harp.

Samuel Crossman’s works

*The Young Man's Meditation, or Some Few Sacred Poems upon Select Subjects, and Scriptures. *Several of Crossman's hymns are preserved in the Sacred Harp. *

My Song Is Love Unknown "My Song Is Love Unknown" is a hymn by Samuel Crossman, written in 1664. It is predominantly used as a hymn for Good Friday. The hymn tune to which it is usually sung is called ''Love Unknown'' by John Ireland (1879–1962). Ireland composed th ...

* Jerusalem On High * Sweet Place

References

1623 births 1683 deaths Participants in the Savoy Conference Ejected English ministers of 1662 Christian hymnwriters English hymnwriters Musicians from Bristol People from the Borough of St Edmundsbury Deans of Bristol Church of England deans 17th-century English composers English male composers Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge {{christianity-bio-stub