Born: 1808, Madeley, Shropshire, England; christened January 21, 1809, in Madeley.
Died: February 29, 1836, Torquay, England.
Anstice attended Enmore, near Bridgwater, Westminster, and Christ Church, Oxford, where he won two prizes in English and graduated as a “double first.” At age 22, he became Professor of Classical Literature at King’s College, London. His works include:
Anstice’s hymns were published posthumously as Hymns by the late Joseph Anstice, M.A., formerly Student of Christ Church, Oxford, and Professor of Classical Literature, Oxford, and Professor of Classical Literature, King’s College, London (Bridgwater: 1836), with this introduction:
As none of the following Hymns had the advantage of being corrected and prepared for the press by their lamented Author, his family have not considered themselves at liberty to bring them before the public; but, having reason to believe that a large circle of surviving friends will be gratified by possessing a memorial of the manner in which some of his leisure hours were employed, and of the subjects which chiefly occupied his thoughts, during the last few months of his life, they have consented to their being printed for private distribution. Bridgwater, June, 1836.
The work contains 52 hymns, and a poem “To My Hymn Book.” The circumstances under which Anstice wrote the hymns were outlined in a letter from Mrs. Anstice to Josiah Miller, author of Singers and Songs of the Church:
The hymns were all dictated to his wife during the last few weeks of his life, and were composed just at the period of the day (the afternoon) when he felt the oppression of his illness—all his brighter morning hours being given to pupils up to the very day of his death.
Sources
Lyrics