Music notebook relating to William Henry Havergal, clergyman and composer

An untitled volume of manuscript music, largely written in ink, with occasional scoring through and annotation marks. The entries are initialled 'W. H. H.' with the metre (C[ommon] M[etre], etc) and a date; some locations and titles are also given. The locations correspond to places associated with Havergal and an entry, dated 15 August 1842, gives the name 'Rev W. H. Havergal'. The dates largely coincide with the years when Havergal was curate of Astley, Worcestershire.

The fact that the entries, dated 1811-1844, are not in consistent chronological order combined with the consistency of the writing, even for entries post-dating the almost complete loss of vision Havergal is known to have suffered from 1832, suggests that this is a 19th century copybook.

William Henry Havergal, son of William (d 1854) and Mary Havergal, was born 18 January 1793 in Chipping Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and St Edmund Hall, Oxford (BA 1816; MA 1819). After his ordination 24 March 1816, his first post was as assistant curate of St James, Bristol and Creech Heathfield. In 1820, he was appointed curate of Coaley, Gloucestershire before moving to Astley, Worcestershire first as curate (June 1822) and then as rector (November 1829). From March 1845-June 1860, he was rector of St Nicholas, Worcester (and honorary canon to the cathedral); his final appointment was as vicar of Shareshill, Staffordshire (1860).

On the 2nd May 1816, he married his first wife, Jane Head (d 1848), with whom he had six children. Four of their children went on to become published writers: Henry East Havergal (1820-1875), Anglican clergyman and organist; Francis Tebbs Havergal (1829–1890), Maria Vernon Graham Havergal (d 1887) and Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879), poet and hymn writer. The works of Frances Ridley Havergal include 'Psalmody and century of chants from old church Psalmody. Hundred tunes and unpublished manuscripts of the late Rev. W. H. Havergal .... ' (London: R. Cocks and Co, 1871). William married his second wife, Caroline Ann Cooke (d 1878), 2 June 1851.

Both William and his youngest daughter, Frances, were active supporters of the Church Mission Society. William undertook deputations in the UK of behalf of the Society; contributions from collections at sermons and meetings can be seen listed under his name in the CMS periodicals from the 1820s
and in 1830s there are records of his donating profits from 'Cradle Hymn', 'Bishop Heber's Hymn' and 'The Lily and the Rose' ('Church Missionary Record', January 1831).

William's published works include sermons and books on religious, musical and moral themes. His many musical arrangements and compositions include songs and tunes for children and approximately 100 hymns. Perhaps the best known of his musical works are 'An Evening Service in E[flat] and One Hundred Antiphonal Chants' (Opus 36, 1836), 'Give Thanks' (Opus 40, 1841), 'Old Church Psalmody' (Opus 43, 1847) and 'A Hundred Psalm and Hymn Tunes (Opus 48, 1859). He was awarded the Gresham prize for 'Evening Service in A' in 1836 and for 'Give Thanks' in 1841.

William never fully recovered his health after being thrown from a carriage in 1829 and finally retired to Leamington Spa in 1867 where he died 19 April 1870.

Source: Boase, G. C. "Havergal, William Henry (1793–1870)." Rev. Clive Brown. In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by David Cannadine, 2004. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12632 (accessed August 17, 2016); Wikipedia accessed 15 August 2016 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Havergal); 'Church Missionary Gleaner', January 1887.

Open, access to all registered researchers.

Presented August 2016

Please see full catalogue for more information.

Catalogued by I. Frlan, in accordance with ICA General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; and in -house cataloguing guidelines, July 2016

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director of Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

Prior to donation to the archive, the volume was rescued from the book pulpers by a friend of the donor. The earlier custodial history is not known.

Cadbury Research Library holds further records relating to the Havergal family in the Church Missionary Society archive (most notably Papers of the Havergal family GB 0150 CMS/ACC95) and the Letters Additional (GB 0150 LAdd). There is a copy of 'Life echoes by Frances Ridley Havergal; with a few selected pieces by William Henry Havergal; with twelve illustrations by the Baroness Helga von Cramm' (London: James Nisbett and Co, 1883) in Cadbury Research Library rare book collections (shelfmark: PR 4759.H8).

Associated Materials
Correspondence and papers of Frances Ridley Havergal, 1844-c1890, are held by Worcestershire Record Office, County Hall Branch (Reference: 0045 705:825)