William Chatterton Dix

William Chatterton Dix
Born(1837-06-14)14 June 1837
Bristol, UKGBI
Died9 September 1898(1898-09-09) (aged 61)
Cheddar, Somerset, UKGBI
Resting place
St Andrew's Church
Occupations
Spouse
Juliet Dix
​
(m. 1864)​
Children7, including Gertrude Dix
FatherJohn Dix

William Chatterton Dix (14 June 1837 – 9 September 1898) was a British hymnwriter, writer of devotional works and high-church Anglican. Dix is known for the hymns As with Gladness Men of Old and Alleluia! Sing to Jesus, and the carol What Child Is This?.

Biography

Dix was born on 4 June 1837 in Bristol to John Dix (later John Ross Dix), a surgeon, writer and poet, and Susanna Dix (née Moore; 1808–1888). Born the same year his father published a biography of Thomas Chatterton, Dix was named after the poet. The youngest of three siblings, both of Dix's elder sisters were music teachers.

Initially raised in a Nonconformist household, Dix was later baptised into the Church of England at St Thomas the Martyr on 16 July 1844. In 1850, Dix's father abandoned the family and settled permanently in America. Educated at Bristol Grammar School, Dix also attended a private school in Frome.

Career

Upon leaving school Dix first worked as a clerk in his maternal grandfather's soap and candle manufacturing works in Bedminster. Joining the choir at St Raphael's Church, Dix wrote his first collections of hymns Hymns of Love and Joy around 1859 which was later published in 1861.

His original hymns are found in most modern hymn-books. He wrote also felicitous renderings in metrical form of Richard Frederick Littledale's translations from the Greek in his Offices of the Holy Eastern Church; and of John Medows Rodwell's translations of Abyssinian hymns. Some of his carols, such as The Manger Throne, have been very popular. His hymns and carols also include As with Gladness Men of Old, What Child Is This?, To You, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise and Alleluia! Sing to Jesus.

At the age of 29 he was struck with a near fatal illness and consequently suffered months confined to his bed. During this time he became severely depressed. Yet it is from this period that many of his hymns date.

Personal life

Tomb in the churchyard of St Andrew's Church

On 30 June 1864, Dix married Juliet Dix (née Wartnaby: 1837–1913) in Liverpool. The couple had eight children, including the Gertrude Dix, a writer and socialist, the illustrator Hilda Dix Sandford and Frank Dix, a writer, actor and director.

On 9 September 1898, Dix died in Cheddar, Somerset aged 61. Dix was buried at St Andrew's Church on 12 September 1898.

Selected works

Hymns

Carols

Devotional literature

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Giles, Gordon (13 November 2025) [4 October 2008]. "Dix, William Chatterton (1837–1898), hymn writer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/97110. Retrieved 22 July 2026. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  2. 1 2 Groom, Nick (13 November 2025) [23 September 2004]. "Dix, John (1811–1865), writer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7693. Retrieved 22 July 2026. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  3. 1 2 James Moffatt, Handbook to the Church Hymnary, Oxford University Press, 1927
  4. ↑ Albert Edward Bailey, The Gospel in Hymns, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1950, p. 359
  5. 1 2 James Moffatt, Handbook to the Church Hymnary, Oxford University Press, 1927, p. 318
  6. ↑ Robert Guy McCutchan (1937) Our hymnody, a manual of the Methodist hymnal
  7. ↑ John Telford (1934) The new Methodist hymn-book illustrated in history and experience
  8. ↑ Brine, Eleanor (9 July 2026). "Dix [married name Nicol], Gertrude Mary (1867–1950), novelist and socialist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000382555. Retrieved 22 July 2026. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  9. ↑ Bassett, Troy (15 December 2022). "Author: Gertrude Dix". At the Circulating Library: A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  10. ↑ Rowbotham, Sheila (2016). "Fabianism and Free Love: Gertrude Dix". Rebel Crossings: New Women, Free Lovers, and Radicals in Britain and America. London: Verso. pp. 187–206. ISBN 9781784785901. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  11. ↑ Gray, Sara (2009). "SANDFORD, Hilda Dix". The Dictionary of British Women Artists. Cambridge: The Lutterworth Press. pp. 230–231. ISBN 9780718830847. Retrieved 22 July 2026.