Albert Midlane

Full Name: Midlane, Albert, 1825–1909
Birth Year: 1825
Death Year: 1909

Albert Midlane was born on 23 January 1825 in Carisbrooke, Newport, Isle of Wight, England as the youngest child of James Midlane (who died before his birth) and Frances Lawes. He received his early education locally and was employed initially in a printing office before becoming an assistant in an ironmongery business. He later ran his own tinsmith and ironmongery business in Newport for many years. His early religious influences came from his Congregational church Sunday school, where he became a teacher and began writing verse at a young age; his first printed hymn appeared in 1842. Later he associated with the Plymouth Brethren.

Midlane began writing hymns in 1842, with his first widely printed hymn, Hark! In the presence of our God, published in Youth’s Magazine in November of that year. His hymn which first entered common use was God bless our Sunday schools (1844), set to the tune of the British national anthem. Over the course of his life he wrote several hundred to over eight hundred hymns, many of which were published in contemporary magazines and small mission or Sunday school hymn books. His work was especially used in Sunday school, revival, and mission services.

Midlane also compiled and published collections of his hymns and poems, including Poetry Addressed to Sabbath School Teachers (1844), Vecta Garland (1850), Leaves from Olivet (1864), Gospel Echoes (1865), Above the Bright Blue Sky (1867), and Early Lispings (1880).

His best known hymn is There’s a Friend for Little Children, written on 7 February 1859 and first published in the children’s collection Good News for the Little Ones in December of that year. The tune most commonly associated with it, In Memoriam, was composed by Sir John Stainer for its inclusion in Hymns Ancient and Modern (1868). There’s a Friend for Little Children has been widely included in hymnals internationally.

On 20 March 1851, Midlane married Miriam Grainger of Newport; the couple had two sons and one daughter. He reportedly never took out copyrights on his compositions and derived little financial benefit from them; at one point he was declared bankrupt as a guarantor for a friend, a debt later relieved by public subscription.

Albert Midlane died on 27 February 1909 at his home in Forest Villa, St. John’s Road, Newport, Isle of Wight. He was buried in Carisbrooke Cemetery on the Isle of Wight.

Hymns in Common Use:
There’s a Friend for Little Children (1859) – his most widely known hymn, translated into multiple languages.

Notes:
Midlane’s hymn texts were widely published in nineteenth-century evangelical and mission hymn books, particularly those intended for children and Sunday school use, and many were included in selections compiled by figures associated with mainstream hymnody of the period.