{{short description|English hymnodist (1800–1894)}} {{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see :Template:Infobox Writer/doc. --> | birth_name = Matthew Bridges | birth_date = {{birth date|1800|07|14|df=y}} | birth_place = Essex, England | death_date = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|1894|10|06|1800|07|14|df=y}}}} | death_place = Sidmouth, Devon, England | occupation = Hymnodist | nationality = British-Canadian }}
'''Matthew Bridges''' (14 July 1800 – 6 October 1894) was a British-Canadian hymnodist.<ref name=hymnary>{{Cite web |url=https://hymnary.org/person/Bridges_Matthew|title= Matthew Bridges |access-date= 29 July 2018}}</ref>
==Life== Bridges was born in Essex, England on 14 July 1800, the youngest son of John Bridges of Maldon, Essex and brother of the Rev Charles Bridges, a priest of the Church of England. He matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford in 1831.<ref name=hymnary/><ref>{{alox2|title=Bridges, Matthew}}</ref>
Matthew Bridges' career as an author began with his poem ''Jerusalem Regained'' at the age of 25 in 1825. Although in his early life Bridges (who was raised in a Church of England environment) was skeptical of Roman Catholicism as evidenced by his 1828 book ''The Roman Empire Under Constantine the Great'', the influence of John Henry Cardinal Newman led him to convert to Roman Catholicism in 1848 at the age of 48, a faith to which he adhered for the remaining four-and-a-half decades of his life.<ref name=hymnary/>
Later in life, Bridges lived for a time in Quebec, Canada, but returned to England and died in Sidmouth, Devon on 6 October 1894 at the age of 94.<ref name=hymnary/> He is buried there in the cemetery of the Convent of the Assumption.<ref>{{cite web |title=Matthew Bridges |url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/115995512/matthew-bridges |website=Find a Grave |access-date=22 Apr 2022}}</ref>
==Works== Some of the more popular hymns written by Bridges include: * Behold the Lamb of God! O Thou for sinners slain.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/b/r/i/bridges_m.htm|title= Matthew Bridges |access-date= 29 July 2018}}</ref> This hymn is included in the 1861 edition of the Hymns Ancient and Modern. *Crown Him with Many Crowns<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk/m/matthew-bridges|title= Matthew Bridges – Dictionary of Hymnology |access-date= 29 July 2018}}</ref> * Man of sorrows, wrapt in grief<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://kpshaw.blogspot.com/2013/04/20.html|title= Breviary Hymns: Man of Sorrows, Wrapt in Grief |date= 7 April 2013 |access-date= 29 July 2018}}</ref> * My God, accept my heart this day<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ehymnbook.org/CMMS/writers.php?id=wd00045|title= Matthew Bridges (1800-1894) - eHymnBook |access-date= 29 July 2018}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridges, Matt}} Category:1800 births Category:1894 deaths Category:English Christian hymnwriters Category:English hymnwriters Category:Writers from Essex Category:English emigrants to Canada Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism