Religious Figure. He was an Anglican priest of the early 19th century, who was a hymnist. Among his most noted hymns are "Abide with Me" and "Praise, My soul, the King of Heaven." According to the 1907 edition of the "Dictionary of Hymnology," he published at least 80 hymns, with a few remaining popular in the 21st century in England as well as the United States. His hymn "Abide with Me" was translated to Russian, German, and at least six other languages and is included in the 1985 Mormon Hymnal for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, LDS. Born one of three sons into an unstable home life, his parents separated after the family moved to Ireland when he was a child. His father, Captain Thomas Lyte, was in the army and his mother is said to be a true Christian. Starting when he was nine years old, his benefactor, Dr. Robert Burrowes, paid for his education at Portora Royal School in Northern Ireland. His talent was recognized early as he started writing poetry while in school. After studying medicine at Trinity College in Dublin, he abandoned medicine and with little formal theology training, was ordained in 1814 after graduating. While in college, he was a scholar of English, receiving three prizes for poetry. Lyte played the flute and spoke Latin, Greek, and French. His first appointment was in rural Ireland before relocating to England and serving in various churches. While serving in Cornwell in 1818, he had a spiritual awakening after the death of a colleague, and the event influenced the rest of his life. He began to study the Bible and preach about what he had learned. Eventually, he was appointed in 1823 perpetual curate in Brixham in Devon, a beautiful place that inspired his writing. His parish was mainly simple fisherman, and he made a point of every boat having a Bible on board. In 1826 he published "Tales on the Lord's Prayer" in verse. He published "Poems, Chiefly Religious" in 1833, which had a 2nd edition in 1845, containing the hymn "Abide with Me." In 1834, his hymn collection, "Spirit of the Psalms," was published, following with at least 5 editions published through 1864. Politically, he was a Conservative, who spoke against the Roman Catholic Emancipation, which allowed Catholics to serve in Parliament, and other protestant denominations that were not mainstream. After liberating African youths, who were committed to his care, he publicly opposed slavery, organizing in 1833 a petition to Parliament requesting it be abolished in Great Britain. In 1839, he wrote a poem entitled "Declining Days." He repaid Burrowes the money for his education. He had respiratory ailments from a young age and was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis. Starting in 1842, he sought for his health warmer climates, such as the French Riviera and Italy during the coldest months in England. While traveling to Italy, his health declined suddenly, dying in a hotel room in Nice, France. He was buried in the British Civil Cemetery in Nice. Posthumously, in January of 1850, a collection of his sermons, unpublished poems and a brief prefatory memoir were sent to press for publication. Since he was not buried in England, on November 16, 1947, a cenotaph was placed in honor of him in the south choir aisle at Westminster Abbey. On January 21, 1818, he married Anne Maxwell, the only daughter of an affluent minister, and the Lytes had three sons and two daughters, one of whom died when only a month old. His granddaughter Phillippa Massingberd Maxwell-Lyte, was the mother of publishing entrepreneur and philanthropist for the blind, Sir Arthur Pearson, 1st Baronet. In the chapel of Portora Royal School there is a plaque in his memory, which states the hymn "Abide with Me" was the favorite hymn of King George V. The hymn is considered the school's song. In 2005 a commemorative stone was placed near his birthplace at Ednam Churchyard in Scotland.