Plumptre, Edward Hayes

PLUMPTRE, EDWARD HAYES: Church of England; b. at London Aug. 6, 1821; d. at Wells Feb. 1, 1891. He was scholar of University College, Oxford (B.A., 1844; M.A., 1847); and fellow of Brasenose College (1844–47); assistant preacher at Lincoln's Inn (1851–58); select preacher at Oxford (1851–53, 1864–66, 1872–73); chaplain of King's College, London (1847–68); professor of pastoral theology there (1853–63); dean of Queen's College, London (1855–75); prebendary of Portpool, in St. Paul's Cathedral (1863–81); professor of exegesis in King's College, London (1863–81); examining chaplain to the bishop of Gloucester and Bristol (1865–67); Boyle lecturer (1866–67); rector for of Pluckley, Kent (1869–73); Grinfield lecturer on the Septuagint at Oxford (1872–74); examiner in school of theology at Oxford (1872–73); vicar of Bickley, Kent (1873–81); principal of Queen's College, London (1875–77); and examining chaplain to the late archbishop of Canterbury (1879–82). On Dec. 21, 1881, he was installed dean of Wells. He was a member of the Old-Testament company of revisers, 1870–74, and is known also as a hymnist. For The Bible ("Speaker's") Commentary he wrote the comments on The Book of Proverbs (1873); for C. J. Ellicott's New-Testament Commentary for English Readers, those on the first three Gospels, the Acts, and II Corinthians (1877); for the Old-Testament Commentary by the same general editor, those on Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Lamentations (1882–84); for The Cambridge Bible, those on Ecclesiastes, James, Peter, and Jude; and for Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament, those on I Timothy and II Timothy (1883). He edited The Bible Educator (4 vols., London and New York, 1874). He likewise published The Calling of a Medical Student, four sermons (1849); The Study of Theology and the Ministry of Souls (1853); King's College Sermons (1859); Sophocles (a translation; 1865); Æschylus (a translation; 1868); St. Paul in Asia Minor and the Syrian Antioch (1877); The Epistles to the Seven Churches (1877); Biblical Studies (1870; 4th ed., 1884); Introduction to the New Testament (1883); Things New and Old (1884); Theology and Life, sermons (1866); Spirits in Prison, and other Studies on Life after Death (1884) ; Life and Letters of Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath and Wells (2 vols., 1888); Lazarus and Other Poems (1864); Master and Scholar (poems; 1866); Christ and Christendom (Boyle Lectures; 1867; new ed., 1899); The Commedia and Canzoniere of Dante Alighieri (new translation, with notes, life, and portraits, 2 vols., 1887); and Wells Cathedral and its Deans (1888). The two hymns by him which are most widely known are "Rejoice, ye pure in heart," and "Thine arm, O Lord, in days of old."

Bibliography: Julian, Hymnology, p. 897; S. W. Duffield, English Hymns, pp. 208–209, New York, 1886; DNB, xlv. 437–438.