Waring, Anna Letitia (1823–1910)

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Waring, Anna Letitia (1823–1910)

Welsh hymnwriter. Name variations: Anna Laetitia Waring. Born April 19, 1823, in Plas-y-Velin, Neath, Glamorganshire, Wales; died May 10, 1910; dau. of Elijah and Deborah Waring (both active members of the Society of Friends); never married.

Began writing hymns at an early age and followed in the footsteps of uncle, Samuel Miller Waring, a hymnwriter who left the Society of Friends to join the Church of England; also leaving the Society to join the Church of England, learned to read Hebrew and studied the Psalms on a daily basis, as well as the Hebrew poetry of the Old Testament; at 23, wrote "Father, I know that all my life," one of her most popular works (1846); her hymns were widely embraced and her volume Hymns and Meditations (1850), containing 18 hymns, was reprinted through many editions in both 19th and 20th centuries; was a prolific religious writer, whose works included Additional Hymns (1858) and Days of Remembrance (1886).