Born: Ju­ly 14, 1800, The Fri­ars, Mal­don, Es­sex, Eng­land.

Died: Oc­to­ber 6, 1894, Con­vent of the As­sump­tion, Sid­mouth, De­von, Eng­land.

Though raised as an Ang­lican, Bridg­es con­vert­ed to Ro­man Ca­thol­i­cism in 1848. He lived in Que­bec, Can­a­da, for some years, but event­u­al­ly re­turned to Eng­land. His works in­clude:

• The Tes­ti­mo­ny of Pro­fane An­ti­qui­ty to the Ac­count, Giv­en by Mos­es, of Par­a­dise and the Fall of Man, 1825
• The Ro­man Em­pire un­der Con­stan­tine the Great, 1828
• Hymns of the Heart, 1848 & 1851 (the ma­jor­i­ty of his hymns come from this work)
• Babbicombe, or Vi­sions of Mem­o­ry, with other Po­ems, 1852
• The Pass­ion of Je­sus, 1852
• Report of the Dis­cuss­ion between J. Bay­lee and Mat­thew Bridg­es, 1856
• An Ear­nest Ap­peal to Evan­gel­ic­al Epis­co­pal­i­ans, etc., on the State of Par­ties in the Ang­li­can Es­tab­lish­ment, 1864

Sources

Hymns

1. Away from God
2. Behold the Lamb of God
3. Blessed Lamb, on Calvary’s Mountain
4. Bright Were the Morn­ings First Impearled
5. Crown Him with Ma­ny Crowns
6. From Circlets Starred with Ma­ny a Gem
7. Head of the Hosts in Glory
8. Ho­ly of Holies, Seat of Love
9. Jesu! to Thee We Look
10. Lo! on the Slope of Yonder Shore
11. My God, Accept My Heart This Day
12. Rise, Glor­i­ous Con­quer­or
13. Rise, O Lord, in All Thy Glory
14. Rose of the Cross, Thou Mystic Flower
15. Soil Not Thy Plumage, Gentle Dove
16. Wave the Sweet Censer, Wave
17. Wine-Press, The