Sarah Doudney

Born near Portsmouth, Sarah Doudney was an English novelist, poet, children’s writer, and hymn writer. Reliable biographical sources describe her as especially known for children’s literature and hymns, and they place her life from 1841 to 1926 rather than 1843 to 1926.

She started writing young: sources connected with her hymn and literary record note that an early poem, The Lesson of the Water Mill, was written in her teens and became popular. Over the years she published fiction, verse, and devotional writing, building a reputation as a versatile and widely read Victorian author.

Doudney is also remembered for hymn texts including "The Christian’s Good Night" and "The Master Hath Come." She spent much of her life in Hampshire and died in Oxford in 1926, leaving behind a body of work that reflects both literary energy and a strong religious sensibility.