Thine for ever, God of Love
In the piece given below, Christopher Jobson guides us towards another beautiful hymn with local connections.
Mary Fawler Maude was born in 1819 in London and married the Rev Joseph Maude in 1841 at St Giles in London. They had 4 children, 2 sons and 2 daughters. After his ministry in the Isle of Wight the Rev Maude moved with his family to be Vicar of Chirk. He died in 1874 and his widow, Mrs Maude, left Chirk vicarage and came to live in Overton at Primrose Hill Villa on Salop Road which she renamed Pendyffryn.
Mrs Maude is chiefly remembered as the author of the hymn “Thine for ever, God of Love” which she wrote in 1847 for the members of her Sunday School class. They were preparing for Confirmation in St Thomas’ Church, Newport, Isle of Wight where her husband was Vicar. Some years later it was published in a hymnal with the fourth line of the fifth verse changed, without her permission, from “Led by Thee from Earth to Heaven” to “Lead us Lord from Earth to Heaven”. She appealed in vain for it to be changed back to the original. After all, as she herself said, “The copyright is mine!”.
She published many other religious academic books, for example “Scripture Topography“, “Scripture Natural History”, “Extracts from the Works of Travellers”, “Scripture Manners and Customs”. Many of her books have recently been republished in America. She was also an able poet and in 1901 published a volume of her verses, a number of which were set in Overton. A plaque on a pillar in St Mary’s Church tells us that for 37 years she worshipped from a pew nearby. She died in 1913 and is buried in Chirk churchyard.
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Mrs Maude’s eldest daughter Mary Julia Maude born 1848 was a gifted artist. She lived with her mother all her life, staying on at Pendyffryn after her mother’s death until her own death in 1934. A substantial collection of her watercolours were left to St Mary’s Church, Overton. Mrs Maude’s younger daughter Edith Jane 1851-1927 married Francis James Chavasse, Bishop of Liverpool who is closely associated with the building of the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, the fulfilment of a long held ambition. They had 7 children, one of whom was Capt. Noel Godfrey Chavasse (RAMC) who died of wounds in Flanders in 1917, the only man to receive the Victoria Cross twice in the First World War.
Christopher Jobson
Feature Image: St_Mary_the_Virgin_Church_East_side_Overton (P.D.)