church at Cople he built an organ with his own hands, which possessed the peculiarity that it was an F organ, that being the note to which the ordinary compass of the human voice extends. On this instrument he carried out many experiments, and regularly acted as organist. He further constructed a chiming apparatus, and was in the habit of chiming the bells himself before service. For some time he was the conductor of a musical society at Bedford. He possessed a natural alto voice, and in a trial of Crotch's oratorio ‘Palestine’ he played the double-bass and sang the alto part in the choruses at the same time. He was also a performer on the trumpet. He died of apoplexy at Cople vicarage on 12 Jan. 1875, aged 54. He married, on 16 Sept. 1847, Frances Mary, eldest daughter of George J. A. Walker.
Havergal's musical publications were:
- ‘A Selection from the Hymns and Songs of the Church by George Wither,’ 1846.
- ‘The Preces and Litany of T. Tallis, to which is added a Short Form of Chanting the Preces and Litany,’ 1847; never before printed.
- ‘Christmas Carols for one or more Voices,’ 1850.
- ‘Hymn for Advent—Dies Iræ,’ by W. J. Irons; the music by H. E. Havergal, 1854.
- ‘Tunes, Chants and Responses,’ 1865.
- ‘Hymn Tunes, part i. Original, part ii. Harmonised and Selected,’ 1866.
- ‘Forty-two Chants, each combining two principal Melodies,’ 1870, besides Te Deums, hymns, and songs.
[Record, 18 Jan. 1875, p. 3, 20 Jan. p. 2; Choir, 23 Jan. 1875, p. 50.]
HAVERGAL, WILLIAM HENRY (1793–1870), writer of sacred music, only son of William Havergal, who died 2 Sept. 1854, by Mary, daughter of Thomas Hopkins, was born at Chipping Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, on 18 Jan. 1793; commenced his education at Princes Risborough in 1801, and entered the Merchant Taylors' School in July 1806. During his holidays he cultivated music, and from the age of fourteen often played the organ in his parish church. He was originally intended for the medical profession, but eventually went to Oxford, matriculating from St. Edmund's Hall on 10 July 1812. He graduated B.A. 1816, M.A. 1819, and was ordained 24 March 1816 to an assistant curacy under Thomas Tregenna Biddulph [q. v.], at the churches of St. James, Bristol, and Creech Heathfield. In June 1820 he became curate in charge of Coaley, Gloucestershire, and lecturer of Dursley, and took pupils. On 25 June 1822 he became curate of Astley, Worcestershire. He visited Cornwall and Yorkshire in 1826 and two following years as a deputation from the Church Missionary Society. On 14 June 1829 he was thrown out of a carriage and received concussion of the brain, which disabled him for some years. He found relief in music. His first public composition was an anthem-like setting of Heber's ‘From Greenland's Icy Mountains,’ the proceeds of which (180l.) he devoted to the Church Missionary Society. In 1836 appeared Op. 36, ‘An Evening Service in E flat and One Hundred Antiphonal Chants.’ One of these, a ‘Recte et Retro’ chant in C, sometimes called Worcester chant, became very widely known. In the same year the Gresham prize medal was awarded him for an ‘Evening Service in A,’ Op. 37. In 1841 a second medal was gained by an anthem, ‘Give Thanks,’ Op. 40, one of the best compositions of the kind. He became well known by his exertions for the restoration of metrical psalmody to its original purity. He published in 1844 a reprint of Ravenscroft's scarce work, ‘The Whole Booke of Psalmes.’ In 1847 he brought out the ‘Old Church Psalmody,’ Op. 43, which is the parent of most modern collections of church tunes. ‘A Hundred Psalm and Hymn Tunes,’ Op. 48, entirely his own composition, was published in 1859. Handel and Corelli were his models, and his aim was to preserve purity of style. He also wrote songs, rounds, and catches for the young, besides carols, hymns, and sacred songs, for which he composed both words and music. Many of the sacred songs and carols appeared in the earlier volumes of ‘Our Own Fireside,’ and were republished under the title of ‘Fireside Music.’ His sacred song ‘Summer Tide is Coming’ and his psalm tune ‘Evan’ are widely known.
On 13 Nov. 1829 he was presented to the rectory of Astley, whence he removed in June 1845 to St. Nicholas rectory, Worcester, and was soon after appointed an honorary canon of Worcester Cathedral. He all but lost his sight in 1832, and it was never entirely restored. For a long time he could not read printed music or decipher his own handwriting. Through weakened health in March 1860 he resigned St. Nicholas and was presented to the country vicarage of Shareshill, near Wolverhampton. In 1867 increasing infirmities forced him to lay aside all regular parish work and remove to Leamington, where, with the exception of visits to the continent, he continued to reside. He died at Pyrmont Villa, Binswood Terrace, Leamington, on 19 April 1870, and was buried at Astley on 23 April.
Havergal was the author of:
- ‘A Good and Satisfied Old Age. Some account of
