419. Tell me the stories of Jesus
W. H. Parker, 1845-1929
A hymn for children on the life of Christ. It first appeared in The Sunday School Hymnary, published in England, 1885. It was written by William Henry Parker, a member of the General Baptist Church in England, a layman, interested especially in Sunday school work. He was a machinist by trade, working nearly all his life in a large lace-making plant in Nottingham. For many years he composed hymns for anniversary festivals in the Sunday school. These were published in 1882 in a volume entitled, The Princess Alice and Other Poems.
MUSIC. STORIES OF JESUS was written for these words and included in a volume published by the National Sunday School Union, London.
The composer, Frederic Arthur Challinor, was born in Staffordshire, England, 1866, the son of a miner. Poverty compelled him in childhood to seek employment to supplement the family income. At the age of ten he began working in a brick yard. Two years later he found employment in a coal mine and then in a china manufacturing plant. All the while he was interested in music and spent his spare time studying harmony. By hard work and perseverance, he finally won his Mus. Bac. degree in 1903. Challinor has composed several popular cantatas and published more than four hundred compositions for voices.