William Henry Havergal (WHH) was born on 18 January 1793, at High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. He was the older child of William and Mary (nee Hopkins) Havergal, and he had a younger sister Mary (1796-1874). When he was eight years old he started school at Princes Risborough, not far from High Wycombe, before entering the Merchant Taylors' School in London in 1806 (aged 13). The initial idea was that he would follow his great-grandfather and go into medicine and consequently a doctor was selected, for whom he would become an apprentice. However, before the agreement could be signed, the doctor died, so another career had to be chosen for him. It was eventually decided (presumably by his parents) that he should become an ordained minister in the Church of England, however he never lost his interest in medicine, because in later years when visiting his parishioners 'he felt the invalid's pulse and saw about the medicine and the parish doctor thanked him for saving him visits…'
WHH matriculated at St. Edmund's Hall, Oxford in 1812/3 , and the following years at Oxford seem to have passed happily with his friends. He was on especially good terms with Rev. Robert Francis Walker, who was then a curate in Oxford, John East, who became a rector of St. Michael's, Bath and Henry Virtue Tebbs, a 'Christian layman who became a proctor in Doctors' Commons.' On 15 November 1815, WHH took his final examination, and on 24 February of the following year he received his B.A. degree. He was then ordained deacon on Friday 24 March in Wells Cathedral by Bishop Ryder of Bath and Wells and preached his first sermons two days later at Durston and Lyng, where he was a curate to Rev. Thomas Tregenna Biddulph. At these parishes, WHH gave very popular lectures on Wednesday evenings for which he described how 'many of my hearers come from a distance of two to four miles. In the dark and stormy nights there have never been less than forty present, and when the moon is up and the weather tolerable, from eighty to a hundred.'
In 1819 WHH took his M.A. degree, and in June of the following year he became curate in charge of Coaley in Gloucestershire, because he needed a larger house for his expanding family (see below) and disliked having to move between two parishes. WHH described in a letter to his mother his house 'is picturesquely situated, and… the village is a perfect contrast to Durston and Lyng: you would be pleased with its romantic scenery…' During the first few weeks at Coaley, WHH agreed to receive a pupil, who proved to be the first of many, as over the subsequent twenty-three years, he taught over eighty others, virtually all of whom went on to be very successful, and many followed in his steps and went on to become curates.
WHH did not remain at Coaley for very long, but he stayed at his next parish for twenty-three years. On 25 June 1822, WHH moved into Astley Rectory in Worcestershire, on request from the rector, Rev. D.J.J. Cookes, who did not live in the house, as he was very ill. . Consequently, WHH was virtually in charge of the parish, and the rector was rarely able to preach. At both Coaley and Astley, WHH gave public lectures which, like those at Durston and Lyng, became very popular. In a letter to his friend, Henry V. Tebbs, WHH described how 'five Sundays ago I commenced a lecture in the evening; from the first the congregation rapidly increased, till on the two last Sunday evenings the church was completely filled, even to the porch door.'
On 2 May 1816 W.H.H. married Jane Head at the parish church of East Grinstead, who was described as being well suited for the role as a clergyman's wife as a result of her 'piety, energy and practical ability.' They had six children, the first of whom was Jane Miriam, who was born in 1817 at Creech Heathfield, where her parents lived while WHH was a curate at Durston and Lyng. Henry East was born at Coaley in Gloucestershire on 22 July 1820, as was Maria Vernon Graham who was born on 15 November 1821. WHH's last three children were all born at Astley, Worcestershire: Ellen Prestage was born on 19 February 1823, who was followed on 27 August 1829 by WHH's youngest son, Francis Tebbs, and then Frances Ridley who was born on 14 December 1836. She was just eleven years old when her mother died on 5 July 1848, aged 54, and was buried in a crypt beneath the church of St. Nicholas in Worcestershire. Three years later WHH married Caroline Ann Cooke from Gloucester.
The birth of Frances Ridley caused great joy throughout the Havergal family, as it had been previously been feared that WHH would not be able to have any more children. This was the result of a serious accident on 14th June 1829 when the horse he was driving plunged into the bank of the road, throwing him out. This gave him several severe injuries that included concussion of the brain, spinal damage and possibly difficulty with hearing. Some of the effects of this accident remained with him for the rest of his life, and his initial recovery from the accident was slow, and contained many setbacks. This can be seen in a letter to H.V. Tebbs dated 31 March 1830, in which he describes how 'I am again laid low. I have a seaton in my neck as an expedient against paralysis. Every exertion is forbidden' and also through the way that even seven years after the accident, his daughter, Maria V. G. commented that 'my dear father at this time was still suffering from the effects of an accident.'
In July 1828, it was written in the will of Rev. Cookes of Astley that upon his death, WHH would become the Rector of Astley in commendam. Originally, he was to be left 'the living of Astley "out and out."' But WHH objected believing that the arrangement would not be fair if one of Rev. Cookes' children wanted to become a rector. On 13 November 1829 WHH became the rector of Astley, a post that he retained until June 1845, when Henry Winford, the son of Rev. Cookes, was ordained, by which time WHH had been at the parish in various roles for some twenty-three years.
The main event while WHH was the rector at Astley was the reopening of the church on 11 June 1839 following a restoration that was funded by parishioners, and the building of a north aisle that was funded by WHH. For the opening celebration, people travelled from miles around for a service for which much of the music was composed by WHH, and more than £90 was raised for the remaining building costs. Also while he was at Astley, the chancel window was restored and WHH landscaped the garden below the church, and planted many unusual specimens in it.
On leaving Astley, WHH donated to the parish his last quarter's income, to provide bibles, prayer books and copies of the collect on the second Sunday in advent. The parishioners of the village presented several gifts to Mr and Mrs Havergal, which included silver candlesticks, a silver cake-basket and several books. In WHH's final sermon to the parish on 13 March 1845 (which had to be delivered by his friend, the Rev. John East, as WHH was too ill to leave the house) he described how 'Astley has been a land of brotherly love and kind-heartedness to me and mine. Never shall I forget the friendliness of past days and the willingness to oblige which all classes have shown…'
In June 1845 WHH and his family moved to St. Nicholas' Rectory in Worcester, a parish that served a population of about 2,030 . Compared to the countryside of Astley, Worcester was quite urbanised and the church and the tall surrounding houses overshadowed the house. The house was smaller than the rectory at Astley, but this did not deter Mrs Havergal as it enabled her to spend more time to work among the poor, rather than caring for the household. It was soon after they arrived in the city that WHH was appointed as an honorary canon of Worcester cathedral of which little is known. Despite this, WHH still continued to be known as 'Mr. Havergal' rather than 'Canon Havergal' possibly, because, as suggested by the Rev. S.B. James, he was so humble, and did not want any 'public recognitions or acknowledgements of his work.'
Following the death of his wife on 5 July 1848, WHH took his family to Aber, in North Wales for several weeks, a trip that was one of many for the family. WHH did much travelling throughout his life, with several of the visits being made as part of his role as a representative for the Christian Missionary Society. For example, in the summer of 1826 he visited Yorkshire where, every-day between 24 June and 4 July he either preached twice or helped at meetings, before heading south, and touring Cornwall until 24 July, by which time over £75 had been collected for the society. Other visits took WHH to Somerset and Devon, the Isle of Man, Scotland, Paris and Canterbury, and to Wales several times. One of the trips to Wales started on 22 July 1839, and was taken with his daughters Maria and Miriam. Miriam recorded in her sketch-book the main events of their 'delightful little tour in North Wales,' which included a visit to Bangor.
In July 1851 WHH married Caroline Ann Cooke and they moved from St. Nicholas' Rectory, which was required for business purposes, to Lansdowne Crescent, Rainbow Hill, which was still very close to the parish. Compared to the rectory, this house was much nicer, as, being on higher ground, it had views across to the River Severn and the Malvern Hills. However, this only had limited benefits for WHH, who was experiencing problems with his eyesight. Consequently in November 1952, he left England with his wife and youngest child Frances, and went to Germany to see Dr. de Leuw who had an excellent reputation. He diagnosed WHH as having a cataract forming, and said that he would be able to get rid of it, if WHH was able to remain for treatment. Consequently, the family stayed at Dusseldorf over the winter, and made various excursions throughout the following year, before returning to England in December 1853, with WHH having much improved sight. However, it was never totally restored, and it periodically presented him with problems reading and writing for the rest of his life, despite paying further visits to specialists, such as in 1861, when WHH described how 'My eyes have been examined by the greatest German oculist. Alas! No hope: some portions are dead.'
The years between 1851 and 1859 appear to have been relatively uneventful, although during this time WHH suffered increasing ill health, which eventually resulted in him wishing to leave St. Nicholas for a smaller country parish, which would have less demands than the busy city parish. The opportunity arose in December 1859 and on his departure from St. Nicholas' during the last week of March 1860 the parishioners were very generous, with the wealthier presenting him with a 'purse of 160 guineas on a handsome silver salver…' while one hundred and fifty of the poorer parishioners gave him a library table.
WHH moved to Shareshill Parsonage, in Staffordshire, the first time in almost thirty-eight years that he had held a post outside Worcestershire. Compared to St. Nicholas in Worcester, Shareshill was very small parish, with a population of less than four hundred people. Although it has been suggested that 'there was insufficient scope here to occupy the still energetic Caroline Havergal,' the parish would have suited WHH perfectly, as he was not in the best of health, and the smaller population placed less demands on him than the bustling city. Nevertheless, he was always busy, and made regular visits to his parishioners, and visited the patron of his living, Lord Hatherton at least once a week during his long illness. He also made several visits to the continent, to places that included Langen Schwalbach which he visited several times where he consulted another doctor about his eyesight, where it was declared that his 'eyes are not essentially worse, but they are weak and extremely sensitive.' He also visited Pyrmont in Germany regularly in order for he and Mrs Havergal to take the curing waters there, and while he was there he wrote the book entitled Pyrmont, an Eligible Place for English Patients who require Chalybeate or Saline Waters in February 1867 from which the profits went towards the preparation of an English service in Pyrmont.
It appears that WHH's eyesight was a severe hindrance to him in the last few years of his life, as he described in 1867; 'My inability to read, especially choice music is a great trial. Others can read words to me, but I must read music myself to thoroughly understand it.' The frequent trips to Germany in order to have his eyes treated and to drink the waters of Pyrmont meant that WHH was away from Shareshill for months at a time, a fact that caused him much guilt. As a result WHH decided to employ as a curate the Rev. Robert Butcher, to enable him to take a leave of absence from the parish for an indefinite amount of time. On his retirement the residents of Shareshill presented WHH with a purse of gold, and an easy-chair. WHH then moved to a new semi-detached house in Leamington that he decided to call 'Pyrmont Villa' after the German town where he continued to visit, and had started to conduct some Sunday services. During 1869 WHH was very ill for about four months, which greatly worried his family, and after this period, he was never as fit as he had been previously, but during the summer of 1869 he was able to visit Pyrmont for the last time where he conducted regular Sunday services.
Over the following year WHH suffered increasing bad health, and Saturday 16 April 1870 was his last conscious day. This was described as 'his best and brightest day for months' and so consequently, he walked in his garden before setting his last lines 'Messiah, Redeemer!' to a palindrome, and composing the tune named 'Havergal' to the hymn 'Mighty Father' by Dr. Monsell. Later on he sat down 'to his harmonium, playing and singing the tune composed earlier…' The following morning, which was Easter Sunday, he rose as normal at around six o'clock but he soon felt very tired, and was seized with apoplexy, and became unconscious. The doctor was called, but declared that there was nothing he could do and so WHH's children were informed, and arrived the following day, to find their father had not regained consciousness, a condition that remained stable until just before noon of the following day, Tuesday 19 April 1870 when he passed away.
WHH was buried on Saturday 23rd April in the west corner of Astley churchyard, under a fir tree, a spot that he had chosen many years before. The burial service was read by his successor at Shareshill, the Rev. R. Butcher, and many of his old parishioners attended. A memorial brass tablet dedicated to WHH was placed in Worcester Cathedral, and the churches of St. Nicholas, Worcester and Shareshill, Staffordshire, and his eldest child, Jane Miriam placed a white marble tomb over his grave on which the epitaph read the following:
The Rev.
WILLIAM HENRY HAVERGAL, M.A., Vicar of Shareshill and Hon. Canon of Worcester
Cathedral. Died at Leamington, 19th April, 1870, aged 77. Curate 7, and Rector
13 years, of
this parish, 1822 to 1843. "A faithful minister in the Lord" (Eph.
Vi. 21)
