Harriet M. Chester › Texts

Chester, Henrietta Mary, née Goff.
Mrs. Mary Chester is the eldest daughter of Mr. George Goff, who died in 1830, at Lausanne, where he had long resided. Mr. Goff's ancestors settled in Ireland in the time of Cromwell, but the main branch of the family has been long established in Hampshire. Miss Goff was married, in 1856, to Mr. Harry Chester, who was well known as an Assistant Secretary of the Committee of Council of Education, and as one of the foremost of the promoters of the extension of popular education, in connection with the National Society, the London Diocesan Board, and other institutions. Mrs. Chester, who was left a widow in 1868, is the author of a small volume of Stories, called Meg's Primroses and of A History of Russia, both written for and published by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. Her translations of Latin and German Hymns made for The Hymnary are distinguished by the accurate reproduction of the original in language of simple poetic beauty, and have the genuine ring of an English Hymn.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, 1907