Charlotte Elliott (18 March 1789 – 22 September 1871) was an English evangelical Anglican[1] poet, hymn writer, and editor.

The hymn was translated into many languages, with tens of thousands of people committing their lives to Christ during the playing of it.

[5] Her maternal grandfather, Henry Venn of the Clapham Sect, of Huddersfield and Yelling, England, was a clergyman.

Their eldest daughter, Eling, often addressed in Venn's Memoirs, married on 30 December 1785 Charles Elliott, [6] a silk merchant,[7] of Clapham and Brighton.

[4] Her siblings were Henry Venn Elliott and Edward Bishop Elliott, who were members of the clergy and engaged as assistants to the vicar, rector and parish priest of St Mary the Virgin Church and St Mark's Church, Brighton respectively.

[8] She became a favourite in social circles where religion was not mentioned, but a severe sickness in 1821 removed her from these companions and led her to feel a need for a personal Saviour.

Dr Cesar Malan of Geneva, who was on a visit to her father's Clapham residence, Grove House,[5] asked her whether she was at peace with God, a question she resented at the time and refused to talk about that day, but a few days later she called on Dr. Malan and apologised, saying she wanted to cleanse her life before becoming a Christian.

There I have my confessional, my thanksgiving, my psalm of praise, and a congregation of whom the world is not worthy – prophets, and apostles, and martyrs, and confessors; in short, all I can want I find there.

[10] She died at 10 Norfolk Terrace, Brighton, on 22 September 1871,[10][4] and was buried alongside her brothers in the churchyard of St Andrew's, Hove.

Evangelist Billy Graham wrote that his team used this hymn in almost every one of their crusades, since it presented "the strongest possible Biblical basis for the call of Christ.

"[12] The historian of hymnody Kenneth Osbeck wrote that Just As I Am had "touched more hearts and influenced more people for Christ than any other song ever written.

"[13] Lorella Rouster called it "an amazing legacy for an invalid woman who suffered from depression and felt useless to God's service.