Jean Sophia Pigott

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Jean Sophia Pigott
Born8 Sep 1845
Leixlip, Ireland
Died12 October 1882
Leixlip, Ireland
Occupation(s)Poet and hymnist
Known forChristian hymns and poems

Jean Sophia Pigott (1845–1882) was a Christian poet and hymn lyricist in Ireland.

Biography[edit]

Born in Leixlip, Ireland, Jean Sophia Pigott was the sister to China missionary William Frederick Pigott, who joined the ministry of Hudson Taylor who headed the China Inland Mission. It is believed that William introduced Jean's hymns to the leader of the Mission.[1][2][3] Her brother Thomas Wellesley Pigott also served as a CIM missionary and was executed with his family in the Taiyuan massacre.[4]

According to Hendry, Taylor particularly enjoyed Jean Pigott's hymn, Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting, and he adopted it as his personal "life song." He was even said to have whistled that tune during the stressful time of the kidnapping and murder of Jean's brother William Pigott and 76 of his fellow missionaries, during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion in China.[3]

Jean was a published poet from a young age and by the age of 35, she had authored a book of her verses called “A Royal Service.” The lyrics to her most famous poem and hymn, Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting, were first traced to that work.[3]

Jean Sophia Pigott died at 37 on 12 October 1882 in Leixlip, County Kildare, where she is buried.[2]

Selected works[edit]

  • Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting[1][5]
  • Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting (lyrics with music)[6]
  • Divine Childhood[7]
  • One Touch[7]
  • Take Thine Own Way, in Woman in Sacred Song[8]
  • A Royal Service, in Woman in Sacred Song[8]

See also[edit]

Jessie Pigott

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Jean Sophia Pigott › Texts | Hymnary.org". hymnary.org. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  2. ^ a b Hustad, Don (1978). Dictionary-handbook to Hymns for the living church. Internet Archive. Carol Stream, Ill. : Hope Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0-916642-09-9.
  3. ^ a b c Hendry, Micah (2022-12-29). "Hymn History: Jesus I Am Resting, Resting". Enjoying the Journey. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  4. ^ Hymntime website, Jean Sophia Pigott
  5. ^ Tozer, A. W. (2016-04-15). The Christian Book of Mystical Verse: A Collection of Poems, Hymns, and Prayers for Devotional Reading. Moody Publishers. ISBN 978-1-60066-905-7.
  6. ^ Assembly, Presbyterian Church in Canada General (1897). The Presbyterian Book of Praise, Approved and Commended by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. With Tunes. Part I. Selections from the Psalter. Part II. The Hymnal, Revised and Enlarged. at the University Press.
  7. ^ a b Gray, F. Elizabeth (2009-09-10). Christian and Lyric Tradition in Victorian Women's Poetry. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-23795-0.
  8. ^ a b Smith, Eva Munson (1888). Woman in Sacred Song: A Library of Hymns, Religious Poems and Sacred Music by Woman ... Arthur E. Whitney. p. 115.