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| Walter John Mathams | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1853-10-30)30 October 1853 London, England |
| Died | 29 January 1931(1931-01-29) (aged 77) Swanage, England |
| Other names | W. J. Mathams |
| Education | Regent's Park College, Oxford. |
| Church | Baptist |
Walter John Mathams was a nineteenth-century British hymnwriter, soldier and minister, who attended Regent's Park College in London in the 1870s as a Baptist ministerial student before converting to the Established Church of Scotland in 1900. He also founded the Ladies' Guild of the Sailors' Society.
Life
After going to sea early on in life, he found himself participating in the Yukon Gold Rush. After failing to find his fortune, he returned to England by way of Palestine. Once back in the United Kingdom, he began studying for Baptist ministry. In 1874, he entered Regent's Park Baptist College, and subsequently became the pastor at Preston, Lancashire. In 1879, his health failing, he went for a while to Australia.
Returning to England, he became, in 1883, minister at Falkirk, Scotland, and at Birmingham in 1888. He entered the ministry of the Established Church of Scotland in 1900, served for three years as chaplain to the Royal Scots Borderers, in Egypt. In 1906, he became an associate minister at Stronsay, in the Orkney Islands. In 1909, he was ordained a full minister at St. Columba's Church, Mallaig, on the north west Scottish coast. In 1919, he retired and moved to Roslin, near Edinburgh. After his wife Alexa Jane died, he moved to Swanage, Dorset
Select hymnology
Mathams published most of his hymns whilst a student at Regent's Park College, in a small hymnbook entitled "At Jesus' Feet". Attributed to him by the Dictionary of Hymnology are the following hymns:
- Bright falls the morning light
- Gentle Jesus, full of grace
- Go, work for God, and do not say.
- God loves the little sparrows
- Jesus, Friend of little children
- My heart, 0 God, be wholly Thine
- No room for Thee, Lord Jesus
- Reign in my heart, Great God
- Sailing on the ocean
- God is with Us
- Christ of the Upward Way
- Jesus, Friend of Little Children
- Now in the Days of Youth
- Stand Fast for Christ Thy Saviour
Other works
- At Jesus’ Feet (1876)
- Fireside Parables (1879)
- Sunday Parables (1883)
References
- ^ John Julian (1907). "Walter John Mathams". Hymnary.org. Dictionary of Hymnology.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - "Rev. Walter John Mathams b. 30 Oct 1853 London, Middlesex, England d. 29 Jan 1931 Swanage, Dorsetshire, England: Community Trees Project". Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.