Jean Sophia Pigott Explained

Jean Sophia Pigott
Birth Date:8 Sep 1845
Birth Place:Leixlip, Ireland
Death Date:12 October 1882
Death Place:Leixlip, Ireland
Occupation:Poet and hymnist
Known For:Christian hymns and poems

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

Biography

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.

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.

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

Selected works

See also

Jessie Pigott

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jean Sophia Pigott › Texts Hymnary.org . 2023-05-11 . hymnary.org . en.
  2. Book: Hustad, Don . Dictionary-handbook to Hymns for the living church . 1978 . Carol Stream, Ill. : Hope Pub. Co. . Internet Archive . 978-0-916642-09-9.
  3. Web site: Hendry . Micah . 2022-12-29 . Hymn History: Jesus I Am Resting, Resting . 2023-05-11 . Enjoying the Journey . en-US.
  4. http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/p/i/g/o/pigott_js.htm Hymntime website, Jean Sophia Pigott
  5. Book: Tozer, A. W. . The Christian Book of Mystical Verse: A Collection of Poems, Hymns, and Prayers for Devotional Reading . 2016-04-15 . Moody Publishers . 978-1-60066-905-7 . en.
  6. Book: Assembly, Presbyterian Church in Canada General . 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 . 1897 . at the University Press . en.
  7. Book: Gray, F. Elizabeth . Christian and Lyric Tradition in Victorian Women's Poetry . 2009-09-10 . Routledge . 978-1-135-23795-0 . en.
  8. Book: Smith, Eva Munson . Woman in Sacred Song: A Library of Hymns, Religious Poems and Sacred Music by Woman ... . 1888 . Arthur E. Whitney . 115 . en.