Born: May 27, 1821, Bel­mont House, Vaux­hall, Sur­rey, Eng­land.

Died: Feb­ru­a­ry 12, 1877, Monk­land, Her­e­ford­shire, Eng­land. His friend John El­ler­ton re­port­ed that Bak­er’s dy­ing words were from his fa­mous hymn:

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love He sought me,
And on His shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me.

Buried: Monk­land, Her­e­ford­shire, Eng­land.

Baker was the son of Vice Ad­mir­al Hen­ry Lo­raine Bak­er. He at­tend­ed Trin­i­ty Coll­ege at Cam­bridge, was or­dained in 1844, and be­came as­sist­ant cur­ate at Great Hock­es­ley, near Col­ches­ter, Es­sex. In 1851, he be­came Vic­ar of Monk­land Pri­ory Church in Here­ford­shire, Eng­land, where he served most of his life. Up­on his fa­ther’s death in 1859, Bak­er as­sumed the fam­i­ly bar­o­net­cy. From 1860 to 1877, he was ed­it­or-in-chief of the An­gl­ican Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, and con­tri­but­ed hymns, tunes, and trans­la­tions. This his­tor­ic hym­nal sold 60 mil­lion co­pies.

Sources

Hymns

  1. Almighty God, Whose Only Son
  2. From Highest Heav’n the Eternal Son
  3. God Made Me for Himself
  4. How Welcome Was the Call
  5. Jesu, for the Beacon-Light
  6. King of Love My Shepherd Is, The
  7. Lord Jesus, God and Man
  8. Lord, Thy Word Abideth
  9. My Father, for Another Night
  10. O God of Love, O King of Peace
  11. O Ho­ly Ghost, Thy People Bless
  12. O Perfect Life of Love
  13. O Praise Our God Today
  14. O Praise Ye the Lord
  15. Oh! What, If We Are Christ’s
  16. Out of the Deep I Call
  17. Praise, O Praise Our God and King
  18. Redeemed, Restored, Forgiven
  19. Rejoice Today with One Accord
  20. Sing Praise to the Lord!
  21. Sweet Flow’rets of the Martyr Band
  22. There Is a Blessèd Home
  23. ’Tis Done! That New and Heavenly Birth

Translations

  1. Captains of the Saintly Band
  2. Good It Is to Keep the Fast
  3. Jesu, Grant Me This, I Pray
  4. Now My Soul, Thy Voice Upraising
  5. O Christ, Redeemer of Our Race
  6. Of the Father’s Love Begotten
  7. On This Day, the First of Days
  8. Sion’s Daughter, Weep No More
  9. What Our Father Does Is Well

Music

  1. St. Timothy
  2. Stephanos