John mason neale biography of rory

Anglican priest and hymnwriter (1818–1866)

John Mason Neale (24 January 1818 – 6 August 1866) was an English Anglican priest, scholar, and hymnwriter. He worked on and wrote a wide range of holy Christian texts, including obscure medieval hymns, both Western and Eastern. Among his most famous hymns is the 1853 Good King Wenceslas, set on St. Stephen's day, known as Boxing Day in the UK. An Anglo-Catholic, Neale's works have found positive reception in high-church Anglicanism and Western Rite Orthodoxy.^[1][2]

Life

Neale was born in London on 24 January 1818, his parents being the clergyman Cornelius Neale and Susanna Neale, daughter of John Mason Good. A younger sister Elizabeth Neale (1822–1901) founded the Community of the Holy Cross. He was educated at Sherborne School,^[3] Dorset, and Trinity College, Cambridge,^[4] where (despite being said to be the best classical scholar in his year) his lack of ability i A great and mighty wonder.