281. We love the place, O God
William Bullock, 1798-1874
Henry W. Baker, 1821-77
Based on Psalm 26:8: “Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honor dwelleth.” The hymn was written by William Bullock, then a young sailor-missionary, for the dedication of a mission chapel at Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, in 1827. Seventy years later, when a new church located on the same site was dedicated, this hymn as revised by H. W. Baker, was once more sung. The sermon preached by Bullock at the opening of the chapel was read to the people.
Wm. Bullock was educated at Christ’s Hospital and then entered the Royal Navy. While on a survey of the coast of Newfoundland, he decided to devote himself to missionary work in that colony. He did this and served 32 years under the Society for Propagating the Gospel. He became Dean of Nova Scotia at Halifax. In 1854, he published Songs of the Church which, he said, were “written amid the various scenes of missionary life, and are intended for the private and domestic use of Christians in new countries deprived of all public worship.”
For comments on Henry W. Baker, reviser of the hymn see [Hymn 143].
MUSIC. QUAM DILECTA was composed for this hymn in Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1861.
The composer, Henry L. Jenner, 1820-98, was a curate in the Anglican Church. After serving various churches in England, he was consecrated first Bishop of Dunedin, New Zealand, 1866. He was one of the Cambridge group which revived interest in ecclesiology, ancient hymnology, plainsong, etc.