author
Thomas Guthrie
1803–1873
A powerful Scottish preacher and social reformer, he is remembered for bringing urgent public attention to poverty and children left without schooling. His writing combines vivid storytelling, moral conviction, and a practical desire to improve everyday life.
1 Audiobook
The Angels' Song
by Thomas Guthrie
About the author
Born in Brechin, Scotland, in 1803, Thomas Guthrie became a well-known minister, speaker, and philanthropist. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, served as a parish minister, and later became one of the prominent figures associated with the Free Church of Scotland after the Disruption of 1843.
Guthrie is especially remembered for championing "ragged schools" for poor and neglected children. He argued that education, care, and early help could change lives before hardship hardened into crime or hopelessness, and his advocacy helped make that cause widely known in Victorian Britain.
Alongside his social reform work, he wrote popular religious and moral books marked by warmth, strong imagery, and concern for ordinary people. He died in 1873, but he remained admired long afterward as both an eloquent preacher and a practical friend of the poor.