When Montgomery was five years old, his fam­i­ly moved to the Mo­rav­i­an set­tle­ment at Grace­hill, near Bal­ly­mena, Coun­ty An­trim. Two years lat­er, he was sent to the Ful­neck Sem­in­ary in York­shire. He left Ful­neck in 1787 to work in a shop in Mir­field, near Wake­field. Soon tir­ing of that, he se­cured a sim­i­lar po­si­tion at Wath, near Rother­ham, on­ly to find it as un­suit­a­ble as his pre­vi­ous job. A trip to Lon­don, hop­ing to find a pub­lish­er for his youth­ful po­ems, end­ed in fail­ure. In 1792, he glad­ly left Wath for Shef­field to be as­sist­ant to Mr. Gales, auc­tion­eer, book­sel­ler, and print­er of the Shef­field Reg­is­ter. In 1794, Gales left Eng­land to avoid po­lit­ic­al pro­se­cu­tion. Mont­gom­ery took the Shef­field Reg­is­ter in hand, changed its name to the Shef­field Iris, and con­tin­ued to ed­it it for 32 years. Dur­ing the next two years he was im­pris­oned twice, first for re­print­ing a song in com­mem­or­a­tion of the fall of the Bas­tille, then for giv­ing an ac­count of a ri­ot in Shef­field.

The ed­it­ing of his pa­per, the com­po­si­tion and pub­li­ca­tion of his po­ems and hymns, the de­liv­ery of lec­tures on po­e­try in Shef­field and at the Roy­al In­sti­tu­tion, Lon­don, and the ad­vo­ca­cy of for­eign mis­sions and the Bi­ble So­ci­e­ty, gave great va­ri­e­ty, but very lit­tle of stir­ring in­ci­dent in his life, though he did find time to write 400 hymns. In 1833, Mont­gom­ery re­ceived a roy­al pen­sion of £200 per year. His works in­clude:

• Prison Amuse­ments, 1797
• The Wanderer of Switz­er­land, 1806
• The West In­dies, 1807
• The World Be­fore the Flood, 1813
• Greenland and Other Po­ems, 1819
• Songs of Zi­on, 1822
• The Christ­ian Psalm­ist, 1825
• The Christ­ian Po­et, 1825
• The Pel­i­can Is­land, 1828
• The Poet’s Port­fo­lio, 1835
• Original Hymns for Pub­lic, Pri­vate and So­cial De­vo­tion, 1853

• Julian, p. 763
• Robinson, p. 19
• Stulken, pp. 151-2

1. According to Thy Gra­cious Word
2. Angels from the Realm of Glo­ry
3. Be Known to Us in Break­ing Bread
   • Shepherd of Souls, Re­fresh and Bless
4. Be Joy­ful in God
5. Behold the Book Whose Leaves Dis­play
6. Behold Yon Bright Ar­ray
7. Bright and Joy­ful Is the Morn
8. Call Je­ho­vah Thy Sal­va­tion
9. Christian War­ri­or, See Him Stand, The
   • Behold! The Christ­ian War­ri­or Stand
10. Come in, Thou Bless­èd of the Lord
11. Come, Let Us Sing the Song of Songs
12. Come to Cal­va­ry’s Ho­ly Mount­ain
13. Come Ye That Fear the Lord
14. Daughter of Zi­on, from the Dust
15. Days and Years of Time Are Fled, The
16. Fall Down, Ye Na­tions, and Adore
17. Food, Rai­ment, Dwell­ing, Health and Friends
18. Forever with the Lord
19. Friend Af­ter Friend De­parts
20. Give Glo­ry to God in the High­est
21. Glad Was My Heart to Hear
22. Glorious Un­i­verse Around, The
23. Glory to the Fa­ther Give
24. Go to Dark Geth­sem­a­ne
25. Go Where a Foot Hath Ne­ver Trod
26. God Be Mer­ci­ful to Me
27. God in the High and Ho­ly Place
28. God Is My Strong Sal­va­tion
29. God Is Our Re­fuge and De­fense
30. God of Na­ture and of Grace, The
31. Green Pas­tures and Clear Streams
32. Hail to the Lord’s Anoint­ed
33. Hark! The Song of Ju­bi­lee
34. Hasten, Lord, to My Re­lease
35. Have Mercy on Me, O My God
36. Hear Me, O Lord, in My Dis­tress
37. Hearken, Lord, to My Com­plaints
38. Heaven Is a Place of Rest from Sin
39. Heralds of Cre­a­tion Cry
40. Ho­ly, Ho­ly, Ho­ly Lord God of Hosts
41. Home, Kin­dred, Friends, and Coun­try, These
42. Hosanna! Be the Child­ren’s Song
43. How Beau­ti­ful the Sight
44. How Pre­cious Are Thy Thoughts of Peace
45. I Cried un­to the Lord Most Just
46. I Love the Lord, He Lent an Ear
47. In the Hour of Tr­ial
48. In Time of Tri­bu­la­tion
49. Jehovah Is Great, and Great His Praise
50. Jesus, Our Best Beloved Friend
51. Judge Me, O Lord, in Right­eous­ness
52. Less Than the Least of All
53. Let Me Go, the Day Is Break­ing
54. Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Gates of Brass
55. Lord, For­ev­er at Thy Side
56. Lord God, the Ho­ly Ghost
57. Lord Is King; up­on His Throne, The
58. Lord Is My Shep­herd, The
59. Lord, Let Me Know Mine End
60. Lord, Let My Pray­er Like In­cense Rise
61. Lord, Pour Thy Spir­it from on High
62. Lord, Teach Us How to Pray Aright
63. Not Here, as to the Pro­phet’s Eye
64. Not in Je­ru­sa­lem Alone
65. Not to the Mount That Burned with Fire
66. O Bless the Lord, My Soul
67. O Come Let Us Sing to the Lord
68. O God, Thou Art My God Alone
69. O Lord, Our King, How Ex­cel­lent
70. O My Soul, with All Thy Pow­ers
71. O Spir­it of the Liv­ing God
72. O Where Shall Rest Be Found?
73. Of Old, O God, Thine Own Right Hand
74. On the First Christ­ian Sab­bath Eve
75. One Pray­er I Have
76. One Thing with All My Soul’s De­sire
77. Our Hea­ven­ly Fa­ther, Hear
78. Out of the Depths of Woe
79. Palms of Glo­ry
80. People of the Liv­ing God
81. Poor Way­far­ing Man of Grief, A
82. Pour Out Thy Spir­it from on High
83. Praise the Lord Through Ev­ery Na­tion
84. Pray­er Is the Soul’s Sin­cere De­sire
85. Pure and Peace­ful Mind, The
86. Return, My Soul, un­to Thy Rest
87. Searcher of Hearts, to Thee Are Known
88. Servant of God, Well Done!
89. Servants of God, in Joy­ful Lays
90. Sing We the Song
91. Songs of Praise the An­gels Sang
92. Sow in the Morn Thy Seed
93. Spirit of Pow­er and Might, Be­hold
    • Almighty Spir­it, Now Be­hold
94. Stand Up and Bless the Lord
95. Tempter to My Soul Hath Said, The
96. Thank and Praise Je­ho­vah’s Name
97. Thee Will I Praise, O Lord in Light
98. There Is a Calm for Those Who Weep
99. This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made
100. This Stone to Thee in Faith We Lay
101. Thrice Hap­py He Who Shuns the Way
102. Thy Glo­ry, Lord, the Hea­vens De­clare
103. Thy Law Is Per­fect, Lord of Light
104. Thy Word, Al­mighty Lord
105. To Thy Tem­ple I Re­pair
106. We Bid Thee Wel­come in the Name
107. What Are These in Bright Ar­ray?
108. What Is the Thing of Great­est Price?
109. What Sec­ret Hand at Morn­ing Light
110. When Je­sus Left His Fa­ther’s Throne
111. When on Si­nai’s Top I See
112. Where Are the Dead?
113. While Through This Chang­ing World We Roam
114. Who Make the Lord of Hosts Their Tow­er
115. Within These Walls Be Peace
116. World in Con­dem­na­tion Lay, The
117. Yes, I Will Ex­tol Thee