Elliott, Charlotte

(1789-1871)

   Elliott lived the first 32 years of her life in Clapham, London. Following a serious illness that left her a permanent invalid, she spent the remainder of her life in Brighton, Sussex, with intervals at Torquay, Devon, and on the Continent. In 1836 she became editor of the Yearly Remembrancer, in which she included (anonymously) her most well-known poem, "Just as I Am Without One Plea," which for many years remained an anonymous poem. It was later set to music and is included in almost every hymnbook throughout the world. She went on to write over 150 poems; many of them appeared in Hymns for a Week (1839), of which forty thousand copies were sold. She is buried at St. Andrew's Church, Hove, Sussex. Some of her other publications: The Invalid's Hymn Book, 1834. Hours of Sorrow, 1836. Thoughts in Verse on Sacred Subjects, 1869. Selections from the Poems of Charlotte Elliott, 1873. Leaves from the Unpublished Journals, Letters, and Poems, 1874. Some of her other hymns/poems: "I Want That Adorning Divine," "My God and Father, While I Stray," "The Hour of Prayer," "Watch and Pray."

   Sources: Biography of Miss Charlotte Elliott, 1789-1871 (Spiritual Songsters) (http://www.stempublishing.com/hymns/biographies/elliott.html). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Stanford University libraries and Academic Information Resources (http://library.stanford.edu). 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 Speaker's Treasury of 400 Quotable Poems. Croft M. Pentz, ed. Zondervan, 1963.