Joseph Anstice

Joseph Anstice was born in 1808, the son of William Anstice of Madeley, Shropshire. Educated at Enmore, Westminster, and Christ Church, Oxford, he excelled academically, winning two English prizes and graduating with double-first honors. In 1830, at the remarkably young age of twenty-two, he was appointed Professor of Classical Literature at King's College, London. His published scholarly works included his 1828 prize poem Richard Coeur de Lion, his Oxford prize essay on the influence of the Roman conquest on classical arts, and Selections from the Choice Poetry of the Greek Dramatic Writers (1832). He died at Torquay on February 29, 1836, at the age of twenty-eight.

Following his death, fifty-two of his hymns were printed for private distribution by his family under the title Hymns by the late Joseph Anstice (Bridgwater, 1836). The circumstances of their composition were deeply poignant. As detailed by his widow, all fifty-two hymns were dictated to her during the final weeks of his life during afternoon hours when his physical illness proved most oppressive, following morning hours spent tutoring pupils up until his death. About half of these texts were introduced to the public through Mrs. Yonge's Child's Christian Year in 1841, leading to widespread adoption across English hymnals. His most enduring compositions include "Father, by Thy love and power," "In all things like Thy brethren, Thou," "Lord of the harvest, once again," and "O Lord, how happy should we be."