Timothy Dudley-Smith

Timothy Dudley-Smith (26 December 1926 – 12 August 2024) was a bishop of the Church of England and a noted hymnwriter. He wrote around 400 hymns, including "Tell Out, My Soul".

Early life and education Dudley-Smith was born on 26 December 1926 in Manchester, England, to Phyllis and Arthur Smith. His father was a schoolteacher in Derbyshire who instilled in Dudley-Smith a love for poetry. Arthur fell ill and died when Dudley-Smith was eleven years old and shortly thereafter, he desired to be a minister. He was educated at Tonbridge School before studying maths and then theology at Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Ministry Dudley-Smith was ordained deacon in 1950 and priest in 1951 by Christopher Chavasse, the Bishop of Rochester. He later served as head of the Cambridge University Mission in Bermondsey, a boys club located in South London. with his first published hymns appearing in the 1965 Anglican Hymnbook.

From 1973 to 1981, Dudley-Smith served as Archdeacon of Norwich and as Bishop of Thetford from 1981 to 1991. He was chairman of the governors of Monkton Combe School from 1992 to 1997.

Personal life In 1959, he married June Arlette MacDonald, a junior Wimbledon competitor and former day care worker. Dudley-Smith died in Cambridge on 12 August 2024, at the age of 97.

Honours Dudley-Smith was a member and honorary vice-president of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland; he was also awarded fellowships from the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada and the Royal School of Church Music. In 2003, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire "for services to hymnody".

Selected works