Nov 2018 Hymn History
Posted on November 20, 2018.
- William Walford (1772–1850) of Coleshill, England, was a simple wood carver with no education, yet he had a very sharp memory and held the reputation of “knowing the Bible from heart”—an impression given by the fact that this humble Englishman was able to quote the Scriptures accurately, including the precise chapter and verse, in spite of being absolutely blind! Walford relied on others to read the Scriptures to him which he then rehearsed and committed to memory as he whittled away bone to make shoe horns, or wood to make trinkets.
Walford’s mind so dwelt upon Scripture, and his communion with the Lord was so sweet, that this humble little man was often asked to share a sermon at the Congregational services he attended. The overflow of the Word of God within him also came forth in the form of poetry.
One day around 1845, when Pastor Thomas Salmon visited Walford, Walford shared a poem about prayer which he had perfected unto memory and he asked Salmon to write it down for him. Salmon, seeing the beauty of the poem, sent it off for publishing as a poem but it was not until a number of years after Walford’s death that the poem was set to music by William Bradbury, at which time the poem then flew around the world upon the wings of its popularity and was translated in to several foreign languages. The Hymn is “Sweet Hour of Prayer.”