Aveling, Thomas William Baxter

Thomas William Baxter Aveling, D.D., was born at Castletown in the Isle of Man on May 11, 1815. He received his early education privately before entering Highbury College to prepare for the Congregational ministry. In 1838, he was ordained to the pastorate of the Congregational Church at Kingsland, where he ministered faithfully for many years. In recognition of his theological and literary contributions, Howard University in the United States conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1875. He passed away at Reedham on July 3, 1884.

Dr. Aveling was a prolific author and editor, serving for a period as the editor of The Jewish Herald. His published prose works include The Irish Scholar, a Narrative (1841), Naaman, or Life's Shadows and Sunshine (1853), Voices of Many Waters (1855), and The Service of the Sanctuary (1859), alongside numerous contributions to contemporary religious periodicals.

His connection with hymnody began in 1834 when he published a small volume of poems and hymns. The majority of his hymns that entered common use were composed annually to be sung during his special New Year's sermons delivered to young people. Many of these compositions were subsequently shared with the wider public through religious magazines, though they were never collected into a single definitive volume during his lifetime. Among his best known and most widely adopted hymns are "On! towards Zion, on!", "Hail! Thou God of grace and glory", and "Lord of the lofty and the low".