Tydeman, Ebenezer Alfred

Author

(given in Praise! and other books as ‘C A Tydeman’); b Moulsham, Chelmsford, Essex 1842, d Godalming, Surrey, 1914. Coming from a family with roots in Suffolk and Essex, he was the son of Henry William Tydeman, a piano-maker who became a Baptist minister. After beginnings as an optician and ‘visitor to a coal merchant’ at Portslade, Ebenezer was one of two brothers who followed their father to ordination and pastoral work. From 1870 he studied at Spurgeon’s Coll, and his first pastorate was at Morice-square [sic] in Devonport, while he lived at nearby Stoke Damerel (cf note to 824).. In 1882 he moved to Bacup in the Rossendale Valley of Lancs, to be Pastor of Zion Baptist Ch; then after 3 years to Foots Cray, Kent, where he named his house ‘Rossendale’. His longest pastorate followed, at Lordship Lane Baptist Ch, E Dulwich, where his Lyrical Leaflets were probably written; followed by his last, at Godalming Baptist Ch, Surrey.
Tydeman’s hymns include a 6-stz text to the National Anthem tune and ‘We gather in our thousands now’ to ‘Auld Lang Syne’, both being sung at Bacup at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 1887; 3 of the 4 hymns sung there for the Diamond Jubilee, 1897 were also his, although by then he was at Foots Cray. No.399, however, is the one enduring hymn for which he (or at least his surname) has become known. He also contributed to Spurgeon’s Sword and Trowel magazine, and wrote a poem on the death of his widow in 1903. Other Tydemans are published authors, apparently unconnected. Kenneth Bowden of Bacup, who provided much of this information in 2007, adds that two traceable ‘C Tydemans’ are Ebenezer’s brother Charles Joseph (b1850) and son Charles (b.c1893). No.399.