Havergal College - Magazine Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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Havergal College Magazine FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL Why is our College called Havergal? is a question we often hear asked. And when we explain that it is named after Frances Ridley Havergal, at once follows: Who was she, and what did she do? Therefore a few facts about her life may not be un- acceptable to the readers of this Magazine. Frances Ridley Havergal was born in 1836 at Astley, Wor- cestershire. She was the youngest daughter of the Rev. W. ri. Havergal, then rector of Astley. We are told that even at an early age the child showed signs of surprising precocity. When only four years old she could read the Bible and any ordinary book, and could even write fairly well. At this time, too, she began to think seriously about religious matters, and in the record of her inner life, which she has left us, she describes her soul restlessness, her strivings after happiness, and her angry feeling of impatience at not being made happy at once. She showed remarkable apti- tude for study, and this thirst for knowledge caused her poor old nurse many anxious moments trying to prevent her charge from studying so hard. She always managed to be in the room when the professor was giving her sister German lessons, and in this way she learned so much of the language that the professor begged to be allowed to teach her. At the age of nine she used to write descriptive letters in perfect rhyme and rhythm to her brother Frank and her young friends. Indeed, she often put into rhyme any occurrences that took her fancy. In 1850 Frances entered Mrs. Teed ' s School, at Belmont, and although she spent but six months here, she tells us that it was a turning point in her life. The clouds that obscured her inner path had not yet lifted, but she received much loving counsel and comfort from those around her. Not until she was confirmed in Worcester Cathedral in 1854, did she finally gain the peace that passeth all understanding. From that time on, her life bore testi- mony to this act of consecration and ' self-surrender. on, that He may make me a vessel sanctified and meet for the Master ' s use, was her constant prayer. Not only during her lifetime was she one of the most powerful forces for religion, but even in her books her voice still rings on with holy influence deep and strong. For many years her father had been in poor health, and as he wished to consult a great oculist in Germany, he took Frances with him. Here she was again placed in school while her parents were travelling about. She showed from the first such rare talent, such depth of comprehension, that her progress was extraordinary. In a letter to a friend she writes the following: In the Louisen- schule, when a girl has not learnt everything (as you know I did not) she receives only her testimony, but no number. This half- year, however, it seemed all the masters in council assembled were 23

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Havergal College Magazine MAY 9th, 1910 npHIS term has been saddened by a ■ • great national calamity, and also by a loss which touches us here more nearly. Until her illness last summer, of all those who visited the College with interest and affection, none was more frequently and warmly welcomed than dear Mary Fortin, our Rector ' s youngest daughter. Even through last winter, when a slow recovery allowed her little active share in the life around her, we found her as bright and interested as ever in College news and visitors. To each and all of us, the loss is a personal one, and hard to be realised. Her vivid interest in life, her quick and gentle sympathy, her dear and loving ways, made her so necessary to all who loved her, that our hearts go out in sympathy and prayer to those who, standing nearest, mourn her most. A suggestion has been made that a bed should be furnished or endowed in her name in the Winnipeg Children ' s Hospital, and this fitting memorial will surely commend itself to many of her friends. 22

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Havergal College Magazine so very pleased with the Englanderin ' s papers and conduct, that they agreed to break all rules for once, and honour me with Num- ber I., a thing they had never done before. On her return home she carefully kept up all her studies, making extracts in German, French and English. With her father ' s help she acquired sufficient Greek to enjoy the New Testament. She also studied Hebrew, and being gifted with a very retentive memory, she learned by heart the whole of the Gospels, Epistles, Revelations, the Psalms and Isaiah, and the Minor Prophets she learnt in later years. As her father ' s health necessitated a change, the family now left St. Nicholas and moved to Shareshill, where the work was so much lighter that Mr. Havergal could now enjoy a much-needed rest. The following year, at the earnest wish of her sister and her brother-in-law, Henry Crane, Frances undertook the instruction of her two youngest nieces, and so made Oakhampton her second home. Her father approved of this plan, as he thought it would prevent her from studying so hard. But even here her zeal did not slacken, for during the odd moments while her nieces were washing their hands before dinner, she actually learned by heart all the Italian verbs. She was continually having to lay down her work on account of her weak constitution, but after a few weeks ' rest she would come back with recovered health and energy to begin her busy life again — her Sunday School, her weekly Bible Classes, her visiting and her music all claimed a share of her time. Nor did she forget the Y.W.C.A., the Church Pastoral Aid, the Church Missionary Society, and many other societies to which she belonged, and for which she was always collecting. She even found time to sew for the Zenana Mission, which was a society very dear to her stepmother ' s heart. The Rev. W. H. Havergal, though for many years an invalid, was very fond of music and composed many hundreds of chants and tunes and some sacred songs. The profits of these he always devoted to church work. There is no doubt that Frances inherited her love of music from him. Not only could she play through Handel, much of Beethoven and Mendelssohn without notes, but she also composed many tunes herself, and was a wonderfully sweet singer. She was persuaded, when on a visit to Germany, to show her compositions to Hiller, the greatest living composer and authority on music. From him she received most encouraging criticism. Indeed, he said she would do well to make this her life work. Soon after her father ' s death, which had occurred in 1870, she undertook the preparation for the press of Havergal s Psalmody, which was afterwards used in connection with the Rev. C. B. Snepp ' s Hymnal, Songs of Grace and Glory. It is by her hymns that her memory will be kept green, even when all those who knew her sweet and saintly life have passed away. She wrote altogether about sixty-five hymns, and fourteen of these are in our new Canadian Hymnal. They were frequently 24