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He was ordained in 1842. For a very brief period he had charge of
a church in Crawley, Sussex but had to resign due to chronic lung

disease.

John was appointed Warden of Sackville College, East Grinstead
where he was responsible for a number of poor men and women,
in 1846, and remained as Warden until his death. This position
was just like that of Septimus Harding in Trollope’s The Warden in
the Barchester Chronicles.

John was brilliant at translating ancient and medieval poems and
hymns from Latin, Greek, Russian, and Syrian. Another of his
translations is
“O come, O come, Emmanuel,” and the all-round favourite of
those written by him is, “Good king Wenceslas.” The English
Hymnal, when first published in 1906, contained 63 translated
hymns and 6 written by him. He also wrote many hymns for
children.

In addition to attending to his duties as Warden he spent his time
translating hymns and writing books on theology, including a
devotional commentary on the Psalms. Then in 1854 he set up an
order of women in the Church of England dedicated to the nursing
of the sick, calling it “The Society of Saint Margaret.” Many were
suspicious of the re-establishing of Anglican religious orders and a
few years later, at the funeral of one of the Sisters, John was
attacked and injured. However, as the people saw the good the
Society was doing they began to support it, and so it replicated
throughout the country and even got established in America.
And the jolly Christmas carol, “Good king Wenceslas” became
established at Christmas time, though few knew who had
written it.

Sadly, there was no cure for John’s chronic lung disease and he
went to be with Lord in 1866.

I trust you will all know the Lord’s blessings this Christmas time.
Enjoy singing old and new carols.

Graham Neads

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