Whitfield, Frederick

Author

b Threapwood, Shrops (or Ches?) 1829, d Lower Norwood, nr Croydon, Surrey 1904. Trinity Coll Dublin (BA 1859). Following ordination and a curacy at Otley, W Yorks, he served as Vicar of Kirby and Ravensworth in N Yorks from 1861 to 1865. He then moved south permanently and after further parish appointments at St Giles-in-the-Fields (C London), Bexley (Kent) and Emmanuel, Wimbledon (Surrey), his major incumbency was at St Mary-in-the-Castle, Hastings (Sussex), 1875–99. He served as Association Secretary for the Irish Church Missions; his 4 sons were all ordained. In retirement (from the age of 70) he lived at S Norwood, now in Gtr London. The first of his many hymns was written in his student days at Dublin; he wrote another for ICM, and published over 30 books of verse and prose including biblical and devotional studies such as Quiet Hours in the Sanctuary. 26 of his hymns featured in Sacred Poems and Prose (1861, not long after ordination); together with the text included here, his best-known hymn has been I need thee, precious Jesus. No.343.