Henry Twells


Rev. Canon Henry Twells was an Anglican clergyman, hymn writer and poet. His best known hymn was "At Even, Ere the Sun Was Set". He also wrote the well-known poem, "Time's Paces" that depicts the apparent speeding up of time as we become older. A younger brother, Edward Twells, was the first Bishop of Bloemfontein.

Life

Henry Twells was the son of Philip Mellor Twells, born in Ashted, Birmingham on 13 March 1823. He went to school at King Edward's School, Birmingham and then to Peterhouse, University of Cambridge, from where he graduated B.A. in 1848 and M.A. in 1851. On 25 May 1875, he married Ellen Jane Tompson, daughter of the Rev. Matthew Carrier Tompson, for fifty years Vicar of Alderminster, near Stratford-on-Avon. He died in Bournemouth on 19 January 1900.

Career