Author: Swain, Joseph
Biography:
SWAIN, Joseph (1761-96: ODNB)
He was born in Birmingham and orphaned as a young child. He served an apprenticeship as an engraver, completing his training in London with his brother. In 1782 he had a conversion experience; in 1783 he was baptised in Southwark. In the same year, in Stepney, he married Susannah Buxton, with whom he had four children who were still alive at the time of his early death. Becoming active among evangelical Christians in the area, in 1792 he was ordained as the pastor of a Baptist congregation in Walworth. His Walworth Hymns, according to Benson, "contributed to the permanent body of Evangelical Hymnody" (215). The congregation grew under his inspiring care; he was able also to supplement the family income with evening lectures. He died after a short illness and is buried in the dissenters' burial ground in Bunhill Fields. John Upton, a friend who preached the funeral sermon in 1796, later published it for the benefit of Swain's widow and small children, together with an eight-page autobiographical poem about Swain's conversion, written during his last illness and entitled "A Letter to the Rev. Mr. P----, Birmingham." (ODNB 29 Oct. 2020; findmypast.com 29 Oct. 2020; Benson)
Other Names:
- J. Swain