Ellerton, John

(1826-1893)

   Born in Clerkenwell, London, he was educated privately and at King William's College, Isle of Man. At Trinity College, Cambridge (1848), he placed second in the chancellor's medal competition with a poem titled "The Death of Baldur" about the Norse god of peace. After ordination in 1850 he served in Sussex, Shropshire, London and Essex, and was heavily involved in social concerns. He was consultant on the supplement to Hymns Ancient and Modern, published in 1889. He died in Torquay, Devon, of a stroke. Some of his publications: Hymns for Schools and Bible Classes, 1859. Church Hymns, 1871 (coeditor). Notes and Illustrations of Church Hymns, 1881. The Children's Hymn Book, 1881 (with Mrs. Carey Brock). London Mission Hymn Book, 1884 (with W. Walsham How and Edward H. Bickersteth, bishop of Exeter). Hymns, Original and Translated, 1888. Manual of Parochial Work, 1892 (editor). Some of his hymns/poems: "From East to West, from Shore to Shore," "Hail to the Lord Who Comes," "Savior, Again to Thy Dear Name!" "Shine Thou Upon Us, Lord," "The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Everyman's Book of Victorian Verse. J.R. Watson, ed. J.M. Dent, 1982. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Cyber Hymnal (http://www.cyberhymnal.org/index.htm). The World's Great Religious Poetry. Caroline Miles Hill, ed. Macmillan, 1954.