W. J. Sparrow-Simpson

William John Sparrow Simpson (20 June 1859 – 13 February 1952) was an English Anglican priest and writer. He wrote the libretto for John Stainer's oratorio The Crucifixion (1887), several hymns, and more than fifty books. He was chaplain of Ilford Hospital Chapel from 1904 until his death.

Life

Sparrow Simpson was born in London, the son of the Rev William Sparrow Simpson, a minor canon of St Paul's and rector of St Vedast, Foster Lane. He was educated at St Paul's School, London and, from 1878, Trinity College, Cambridge. As an undergraduate he was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal for English verse in a competition judged by Robert Browning; he graduated with a first class degree in theology in 1882. In the same year he was ordained deacon, and went to Christ Church, Albany Street in Marylebone, London as curate. In the following year, in which he was ordained priest, he wrote the first of two libretti for choral works by John Stainer. These were the cantata St Mary Magdalen (1883) and the oratorio The Crucifixion (1887).

Sparrow Simpson was vicar of St Mark's, Regent's Park, 1888–1904, and moved to Ilford in 1904 as chaplain to the ancient almshouse foundation, the Ilford Hospital Chapel. He retained the post until his death at the age of 92. He became a Doctor of Divinity in 1911 and an honorary canon of Chelmsford in 1919. At Ilford, he housed and trained ordinands, known to the congregation as "the Doctor's boys". To finance the training he sold the Chancellor's Medal he had won at Cambridge.