Charles Wesley, the writer of Hark the Herald Angels Sing and a number of other well-known hymns, died on this day 222 years ago, just two months after the First Fleet landed at Port Jackson in Australia. Born in 1707, he was educated at Westminster School, St Peter’s College and Christ Church Oxford before being ordained into the Church of England in 1835, following in the footsteps of his father Samuel and older brother John.
While studying in Oxford, Charles formed a group with some of his fellow students, with the purpose of encouraging each other in systematic Bible study and Christian living. The group was joined by Charles’s brother John and they became known as the “Methodists”. Their style of Christian living included receiving communion every week, fasting regularly, visiting the sick, the poor and prisoners, and abstaining from amusements and luxury.
Whereas John Wesley is famous for his preaching, leadership and theological views, Charles Wesley is remembered most for his poetry and hymns, and he is sometimes referred to as the “poet of Methodism”. His famous hymns include “And Can It Be That I Should Gain?”, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”, “Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus”, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul”, “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing”, and “Rejoice, the Lord is King”.