Jeanette Threlfall
Jeanette Threlfall (pen name, J. T.; 24 March 1821 – 30 November 1880) was a 19th-century English hymnwriter and author of other sacred poems.
She published Woodsorrel, 1856; The Babe and the Princess, 1864; Sunshine and Shadow, 1873; and two little prose works.
Suffering from poor health during the greater part of her life served to deepen her spiritual faith, and gave her time to write hymns.
"We praise Thee in the morning" may be taken as a specimen of her style, while her Palm Sunday hymn, "Hosanna!
She was the daughter of Henry Threlfall, wine merchant, and Catherine Eccles, the latter a somewhat noticeable local family, who disapproved of the marriage.
[4] Orphaned early in life, she became the "beloved inmate" (as a memorial-card bears) of the households successively of her uncle and aunt Bannister and Mary Jane Eccles, at Park Place, Blackburn, and Golden Hill, Leyland, Lancashire; and later of their daughter, Sarah Alice Aston, and her husband, of Dean's Yard, Westminster.
[2] Throughout her life, she was a great reader, and made time to write sacred poems and hymns.
They were first collected and issued in a small volume, entitled Woodsorrel; or, Leaves from a Retired Home, by J. T., (London: J. Nisbet, 1856).
In 1873, she selected fifteen pieces from Woodsorrel and added 55 others, and published them as Sunshine and Shadow.
She bore her sufferings well, retaining a positive attitude till her death, 30 November 1880.
Threlfall was interred in the Aston family vault on the western side of Highgate Cemetery, (plot no.9123), on the 4th December 1880.
In Julian (1892), it is remarked that "[her] sacred poems are not very well wrought, nor at all noticeable in thought or sentiment.
Remarks by Stanley included:—[5]“If I may speak of one who has been taken from these precincts within the last week: when a life, bright and lovely in itself, is suddenly darkened by some terrible accident; when it has been changed from the enjoyment of everything to the enjoyment of nothing; when year by year, and week by week, the suffering, the weakness, have increased; and when yet, in spite of this, the patient sufferer has become the centre of the household, the adviser and counsellor of each; when there has been a constant stream of cheerfulness under the severest pain; when there has been a flow of gratitude for any act of kindness, however slight; when we recall the eager hope of such an one, that progress and improvement, not stagnation or repose, will be the destiny of the newly-awakened soul; then, when the end has come, we feel more than ever that the future is greater than the present.” Remarks by Farrar included:—[5]“A few days ago there passed away a resident of this Parish, a member of this congregation, whose name many of the poor well know; who was their friend and their benefactor: who had the liberal hand and the large heart; who helped the charities of this parish with a spontaneous generosity which is extremely rare; whose purse was ever open, unasked, to every good work of which she heard; whose delicate mind was alive with Christian sympathy; who had pre-eminently “‘The faith, through constant watching wise, And the heart at leisure from itself, To soothe and sympathise.’” Bishop Wordsworth praised her poems, and observed:—[5]“It is an occasion for great thankfulness to be able to point to poems, such as many of those in the present volume, in which considerable mental powers and graces of composition are blended with pure religious feeling, and hallowed by sound doctrine and fervent devotion.”"Hosanna!
