Sabine Baring-Gould (1834 - 1924)

Sabine Baring-Gould's life is a story in itself, with his unconventional childhood, his marriage to a mill-girl half his age and his dedication to antiquarian pursuits alongside his life as squire and parson of a small Devonshire village. He was regarded as one of the top ten novelists of his time, but wrote prolifically on his travels, religious matters, historical figures and on many other topics. Over 1200 publications are listed in his bibliography.

He was an early archaeologist, respected for his work on Dartmoor, in Cornwall, in Wales and in France. He was also a folklorist, but he regarded his greatest achievement to be his collection of songs, most of them heard from singers in Devon and Cornwall. Beside his writing he re-created the twin hearts of his beloved parish of Lew Trenchard - his home, Lew House and the beautiful little church of St Peter, Lewtrenchard. For these he was his own architect.

At his death in 1924 he largely dropped out of the public's memory and, if he was remembered at all, it would have been for his best known hymns such as 'Onward, Christian soldiers' and 'Now the day is over'. In recent years members of the Sabine Baring-Gould Appreciation Society, with the help of the descendants of his 15 children, have searched out forgotten manuscripts and letters which help to give a better picture of the life of this remarkable man.

You can download a copy of the SBGAS Leaflet here, which you can read and print - but please note that the subscription rates have now changed. For details see the Membership page.

 

News Box- news items in brief

  • See the Chairman's letter (September 2011)  here
  • Subscription rates for 2011-12 have been increased - see membership page
  • Dates for the 2012 Annual Meeting in Devon are 12th - 14th October
  • Minutes of the 2011 SBGAS Annual General Meeting are available here

 

About this site:

This is the third version of the SBGAS website and I hope that you will be pleased with the simplicity and with the new design.

I have provided what I believe to be the first full index for the SBGAS Transactions. Copies of Volumes 7 - 10 of the Transactions are available for purchase, contact me if you want to buy them.

Work is continuing to make a complete set of the articles from the SBGAS newsletter available on this site. This is, though. a long-term project and will not be complete for some time yet.

 

Martin Graebe

31 October 2011