Edward Caswall

Who was Edward Caswall?

Edward Caswall, CO, was an Anglican clergyman and hymn writer who converted to Roman Catholicism.

He was born at Yateley, Hampshire, July 15, 1814 son of Rev. R. C. Caswall, sometime Vicar of Yateley, Hampshire. He died at the Oratory, Edgbaston, near Birmingham, January 2, 1878 and was buried at Rednal, near Bromsgrove.

Caswall was educated at Marlborough Grammar School and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1836 with honours and later proceeded to Master of Arts. He was curate of Stratford-sub-Castle, near Salisbury, 1840–47. In 1850, his wife having died the previous year, he joined the Oratory of St. Philip Neri under Newman, to whose influence his conversion to Roman Catholicism was due.

He wrote original poems that have mainly survived only in Catholic hymnals due to a clear adherence to Catholic doctrine. Caswall is best known for his translations from the Roman Breviary and other Latin sources, which are marked by faithfulness to the original and purity of rhythm. They were published in Lyra Catholica, containing all the breviary and missal hymns; The Masque of Mary; and A May Pageant. Hymns and Prose are the three books combined with many of the hymns rewritten or revised.