Phocion Henley

Life

Born: 1728

Died: 29 August 1764

Biography

Phocion Henley was born at Abbott's Wootton, near Whitchurch Canonicorum, Dorset, in 1728. He appears to have been of the same family as Robert Henley, 1st Earl of Northington, although the relationship is unclear: the 1891 Dictionary of National Biography entry for Phocion Henley describes him as the Earl's 'nephew', while the 2004 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes Phocion Henley as a son of John Henley (1677-1732), the MP for Lyme Regis, and notes 'Robert Henley, first earl of Northington, was his cousin'.

He matriculated at Wadham College, Oxford on 7 May 1746 and graduated BA on 14 February 1749, receiving his MA from King's College, Cambridge in 1753.

From 1759 until his death in 1764, he was rector of St Andrew by the Wardrobe, in the City of London, and the associated St Ann Blackfriars. He is reputed to have died from a fever caught whilst visiting a sick parishioner (p329, Alumni Cantabrigienses, part 2, vol. 3, Cambridge: 1947).

Several of his psalm tunes were published in Divine Harmony, a collection edited by John Page of St. Paul's Cathedral, and published by Page at 30, St. Paul's Church Yard, which is dated 1 January 1798 on the title page.

View the Wikipedia article on Phocion Henley.

List of choral works

• O God, whose former mercies make

 
Click here to search for this composer on CPDL

Publications

• Entry in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
• Article on Phocion Henley and his music by Francis Roads

External links

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