When Montgomery was five years old, his fam­i­ly moved to the Mo­rav­i­an set­tle­ment at Grace­hill, near Bal­ly­mena, Coun­ty An­trim. Two years lat­er, he was sent to the Ful­neck Sem­in­ary in York­shire. He left Ful­neck in 1787 to work in a shop in Mir­field, near Wake­field. Soon tir­ing of that, he se­cured a sim­i­lar po­si­tion at Wath, near Rother­ham, on­ly to find it as un­suit­a­ble as his pre­vi­ous job. A trip to Lon­don, hop­ing to find a pub­lish­er for his youth­ful po­ems, end­ed in fail­ure. In 1792, he glad­ly left Wath for Shef­field to be as­sist­ant to Mr. Gales, auc­tion­eer, book­sel­ler, and print­er of the Shef­field Reg­is­ter. In 1794, Gales left Eng­land to avoid po­lit­ic­al pro­se­cu­tion. Mont­gom­ery took the Shef­field Reg­is­ter in hand, changed its name to the Shef­field Iris, and con­tin­ued to ed­it it for 32 years. Dur­ing the next two years he was im­pris­oned twice, first for re­print­ing a song in com­mem­or­a­tion of the fall of the Bas­tille, then for giv­ing an ac­count of a ri­ot in Shef­field.

The ed­it­ing of his pa­per, the com­po­si­tion and pub­li­ca­tion of his po­ems and hymns, the de­liv­ery of lec­tures on po­e­try in Shef­field and at the Roy­al In­sti­tu­tion, Lon­don, and the ad­vo­ca­cy of for­eign mis­sions and the Bi­ble So­ci­e­ty, gave great va­ri­e­ty, but very lit­tle of stir­ring in­ci­dent in his life, though he did find time to write 400 hymns. In 1833, Mont­gom­ery re­ceived a roy­al pen­sion of £200 per year. His works in­clude:

• Prison Amuse­ments, 1797
• The Wanderer of Switz­er­land, 1806
• The West In­dies, 1807
• The World Be­fore the Flood, 1813
• Greenland and Other Po­ems, 1819
• Songs of Zi­on, 1822
• The Christ­ian Psalm­ist, 1825
• The Christ­ian Po­et, 1825
• The Pel­i­can Is­land, 1828
• The Poet’s Port­fo­lio, 1835
• Original Hymns for Pub­lic, Pri­vate and So­cial De­vo­tion, 1853

Sources

Hymns

1. According to Thy Gra­cious Word
2. Angels from the Realm of Glo­ry
3. Be Known to Us in Break­ing Bread
   • Shepherd of Souls, Refresh and Bless
4. Be Joyful in God
5. Behold the Book Whose Leaves Display
6. Behold Yon Bright Array
7. Bright and Joy­ful Is the Morn
8. Call Je­ho­vah Thy Sal­va­tion
9. Christ­ian Warrior, See Him Stand, The
   • Behold! The Christian Warrior Stand
10. Come, Let Us Sing the Song of Songs
11. Come to Cal­va­ry’s Ho­ly Mount­ain
12. Come Ye That Fear the Lord
13. Daughter of Zi­on, from the Dust
14. Days and Years of Time Are Fled, The
15. Fall Down, Ye Na­tions, and Adore
16. Food, Raiment, Dwelling, Health and Friends
17. Forever with the Lord
18. Give Glory to God in the High­est
19. Glad Was My Heart to Hear
20. Glorious Universe Around, The
21. Glory to the Father Give
22. Go to Dark Geth­sem­a­ne
23. Go Where a Foot Hath Never Trod
24. God Be Merciful to Me
25. God in the High and Ho­ly Place
26. God Is My Strong Sal­va­tion
27. God Is Our Re­fuge and De­fense
28. God of Na­ture and of Grace, The
29. Green Pastures and Clear Streams
30. Hail to the Lord’s Anoint­ed
31. Hark! The Song of Ju­bi­lee
32. Hasten, Lord, to My Re­lease
33. Have Mercy on Me, O My God
34. Hear Me, O Lord, in My Dis­tress
35. Hearken, Lord, to My Com­plaints
36. Heaven Is a Place of Rest from Sin
37. Heralds of Crea­tion Cry
38. Ho­ly, Ho­ly, Ho­ly Lord God of Hosts
39. Home, Kindred, Friends, and Coun­try, These
40. How Beau­ti­ful the Sight
41. How Precious Are Thy Thoughts of Peace
42. I Cried unto the Lord Most Just
43. I Love the Lord, He Lent an Ear
44. In the Hour of Tr­ial
45. In Time of Tri­bu­la­tion
46. Jehovah Is Great, and Great His Praise
47. Jesus, Our Best Beloved Friend
48. Judge Me, O Lord, in Right­eous­ness
49. Less Than the Least of All
50. Let Me Go, the Day Is Break­ing
51. Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Gates of Brass
52. Lord, Forever at Thy Side
53. Lord God, the Ho­ly Ghost
54. Lord Is King; Upon His Throne, The
55. Lord Is My Shep­herd, The
56. Lord, Let Me Know Mine End
57. Lord, Let My Pray­er Like In­cense Rise
58. Lord, Pour Thy Spir­it from on High
59. Lord, Teach Us How to Pray Aright
60. Not Here, as to the Pro­phet’s Eye
61. Not in Jerusalem Alone
62. Not to the Mount That Burned with Fire
63. O Bless the Lord, My Soul
64. O God, Thou Art My God Alone
65. O Lord, Our King, How Excellent
66. O My Soul, with All Thy Powers
67. O Spirit of the Liv­ing God
68. O Where Shall Rest Be Found?
69. Of Old, O God, Thine Own Right Hand
70. On the First Christ­ian Sab­bath Eve
71. One Pray­er I Have
72. One Thing with All My Soul’s Desire
73. Our Heavenly Father Hear
74. Out of the Depths of Woe
75. Palms of Glo­ry
76. People of the Liv­ing God
77. Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, A
78. Pour Out Thy Spirit from on High
79. Praise the Lord Through Ev­ery Na­tion
80. Pray­er Is the Soul’s Sin­cere De­sire
81. Pure and Peaceful Mind, The
82. Return, My Soul, unto Thy Rest
83. Searcher of Hearts, to Thee Are Known
84. Servants of God, in Joy­ful Lays
85. Sing We the Song
86. Songs of Praise the An­gels Sang
87. Sow in the Morn Thy Seed
88. Spirit of Power and Might, Behold
    • Almighty Spir­it, Now Be­hold
89. Stand Up and Bless the Lord
90. Tempter to My Soul Hath Said, The
91. Thank and Praise Je­ho­vah’s Name
92. Thee Will I Praise, O Lord in Light
93. There Is a Calm for Those Who Weep
94. This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made
95. Thrice Hap­py He Who Shuns the Way
96. Thy Glo­ry, Lord, the Heav­ens Declare
97. Thy Law Is Per­fect, Lord of Light
98. Thy Word, Almighty Lord
99. To Thy Tem­ple I Re­pair
100. We Bid Thee Wel­come in the Name
101. What Are These in Bright Array?
102. What Is the Thing of Great­est Price?
103. What Secret Hand at Morn­ing Light
104. When J­esus Left His Fa­ther’s Throne
105. When on Sinai’s Top I See
106. Where Are the Dead?
107. While Through This Chang­ing World We Roam
108. Who Make the Lord of Hosts Their Tow­er
109. Within These Walls Be Peace
110. World in Con­dem­na­tion Lay, The
111. Yes, I Will Ex­tol Thee