Anne Steele

Anne Steele (pen name, Theodosia; 1717 – 11 November 1778) was an English Baptist hymnwriter and essayist. For a full century after her death, she filled a larger place in United States and British hymnals than any other woman.

At an early age, Steele showed a taste for literature, and would often entertain her friends with her poetical compositions. To a fervour of devotion, which increased as she got older, she developed a fondness for sacred literature, which led her to compose a considerable number of pieces in prose and verse. These works were published using the pseudonym, "Theodosia". Portions of these spiritual lyrics soon found their way into collections, while the diffidence of the author because of her pen name, left her comparatively unknown beyond the circle of her personal friends.

In 1760, two volumes, appeared under the title of Poems on Subjects chiefly Devotional, by Theodosia. After her death, which occurred in 1778, a new edition was published with an additional volume and a Preface by the Rev. Dr. Caleb Evans of Bristol (Bristol, 1780). In the three volumes, there are 144 hymns, 34 Psalms in verse, and about 30 short poems. They were reprinted in one volume by D. Sedgwick, 1863. Steele's hymns were first made available for congregational use in 1769, 62 of them being then introduced into the Bristol Baptist Collections of Ash & Evans, the letter T for "Theodosia" being affixed; 47 were also given in Dr. Rippon's Selections, 1787, and 26 in Dr. W. B. Collyer's Collections, 1812. The original edition of "Theodosia"'s works are kept in the Library of the Baptist College, Bristol.

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