1784-1849
Bernard Barton (1784-1849)

Jan­u­a­ry 31, 1784, Car­lisle, Cum­ber­land, Eng­land.

Feb­ru­a­ry 19, 1849, Wood­bridge, Suf­folk, Eng­land.

Turn Lane grave­yard, Wood­bridge, Suf­folk, Eng­land.

Barton was Britain’s count­er­part to Amer­i­can John Green­leaf Whitt­i­er. Like Whitt­i­er, he was called the Quak­er Po­et. Barton at­tend­ed a Quak­er school in Ip­swich. In 1798, he was ap­pren­ticed to a Mr. S. Jes­up, a shop­keep­er at Hal­stead, Es­sex, with whom he stayed un­til 1806. Barton then moved to Wood­bridge, Suf­folk, and en­tered into bus­i­ness with his bro­ther as a coal and corn mer­chant. He mar­ried, but his wife died aft­er on­ly a year. Bar­ton then moved to Li­ver­pool for a short while, but re­turned to Wood­bridge in 1810. A bank clerk by pro­fess­ion, he wrote 10 books of po­ems, ma­ny of which be­came hymns. His works in­clude:

  1. Around Bethesda’s Heal­ing Wave
  2. Fear Not, Zi­on’s Sons and Daugh­ters
  3. Hath the Invita­tion End­ed?
  4. Lamp of Our Feet
  5. Say Not the Law Di­vine
  6. See We Not Be­yond the Por­tal?
  7. There Is a Life More Dear
  8. Those Who Live in Love Shall Know
  9. Walk in the Light
  10. We Jour­ney Through a Vale of Tears
  11. Wouldst Thou Share This Ben­e­dic­tion?