Cecil Frances Alexander

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CFA wrote both hymns and verse, the latter also usually adaptable for music. Her work was mainly directed towards young audiences, as she excelled
Julian, John, editor. A Dictionary of Hymnology. Dover Publications, 1957, 2 vols.
at writing for children.
Shattock, Joanne. The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers. Oxford University Press, 1993.
Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990.
Over the course of her career in the second half of the nineteenth century, she wrote at least four hundred poems and hymns. Many of these, including All Things Bright and Beautiful, are still sung in the Anglican Church and related traditions today.
Julian, John, editor. A Dictionary of Hymnology. Dover Publications, 1957, 2 vols.
  • BirthName: Cecil
    S. J. Brown , a scholar of Irish literature, gives this name (once not uncommon for women) as Cecilia.
    Frances Humphreys
    Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990.
    Wallace, Valerie. Mrs. Alexander: A Life of the Hymn-Writer, Cecil Frances Alexander, 1818-1895. Lilliput, 1995.
    1

  • Nickname: Fanny
    Wallace, Valerie. Mrs. Alexander: A Life of the Hymn-Writer, Cecil Frances Alexander, 1818-1895. Lilliput, 1995.
    3

  • Married: Alexander
  • Pseudonym: C. F. A.
    Wallace, Valerie. Mrs. Alexander: A Life of the Hymn-Writer, Cecil Frances Alexander, 1818-1895. Lilliput, 1995.
    112
    British Library Catalogue. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1489778087340&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&fromLo.

Black and white photograph of Cecil Frances Alexander, seated at a desk. There are writing supplies on the desk and she clasps a book on her lap with one hand. The other elbow rests on the desk, with that hand to the side of her head.

Milestones

Early April 1818

Cecil Frances Humphreys (later CFA ) was born at her parents' home, 25 Eccles Street, Dublin.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
The Cyber Hymnal. http://www.cyberhymnal.org.

1848

Among the books published this year by Cecil Frances Humphreys , later CFA , was Hymns for Little Children with a preface by John Keble ; this contains the hymns with which her name is still associated.
Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990.

12 October 1895

CFA died in Londonderry of a stroke.
Wallace, Valerie. Mrs. Alexander: A Life of the Hymn-Writer, Cecil Frances Alexander, 1818-1895. Lilliput, 1995.
177-8

Biography

Birth and Family

Early April 1818

Cecil Frances Humphreys (later CFA ) was born at her parents' home, 25 Eccles Street, Dublin.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
The Cyber Hymnal. http://www.cyberhymnal.org.

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