Excerpt from Loyal Responses, or Daily Melodies for the King's Minstrels
May I be pardoned for asking my readers to accept all I have said in these little books in lieu of letters? For the endeavour to answer their most kindly meant and often very interesting communications is becoming a serious tax upon time and strength, and an increasing hindrance to doing other work.
Frances Ridley Havergal, the daughter of a Church of England minister, is well known for her great hymns of consecration including the famous Take My Life and Let It Be. She also wrote hymn melodies, religious tracts, and works for children.
In 1852/3 she studied in the Louisenschule, Dusseldorf, and at Oberkassel. Otherwise she led a quiet life, not enjoying consistent good health; she travelled, in particular to Switzerland. She supported the Church Missionary Society.
She died of peritonitis at Caswell Bay on the Gower Peninsula in Wales. Her sisters saw much of her work published posthumously. Havergal College, a private girls' school in Toronto, is named after her. The composer Havergal Brian adopted the name as a tribute to the Havergal family.
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