Born: Au­gust 24, 1846, Kent, Eng­land.

Died: March 22, 1929, Hendon, Eng­land.

Third son of civil ser­vant Ste­phen Bourne, Will­iam was ed­u­cat­ed at Mer­chant Tay­lors’ School and the Lon­don Coll­ege of Di­vin­i­ty. Tak­ing Ho­ly Or­ders in 1869, he be­came suc­cess­ive­ly cur­ate of Ho­ly Trin­i­ty, Der­by; Har­row-on-the-Hill; St. Paul’s, St. Leo­nards-on-Sea; Ash­ford, Kent; in 1875, vi­car of Pin­ner, Mid­dle­sex; and in 1880, Vi­car of All Saints, Hag­ger­stone. He con­trib­ut­ed po­ems to Church Bells and other per­i­od­i­cals, and in 1879 be­came ed­it­or of The Mis­sion Field for the So­ci­e­ty for the Pro­mo­tion of Christ­ian Know­ledge. In 1900, he be­came Rec­tor of Finchley. His works in­clude:

• Studies of the Spiritual Life
• The King of Sorrow
• “Strays,” A Dream Poem for Christmas
• A Supplementary Hymn­al, 1898

Sources

Hymns

1. Children’s Voices Strive Not Vainly
2. Christ, Who Once Among Us
3. Enter with Thanksgiving
4. Evening Shadowy Dimness, The
5. For the Freshness of the Morn­ing
6. In the Name of God the Father
7. Sower Went Forth Sowing, The
8. Through the Feeble Twilight