Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Waring, Anna Letitia
WARING, ANNA LETITIA (1823–1910), hymn writer, born at Plas-y-Velin, Neath, Glamorganshire, on 19 April 1823, was the second daughter of Elijah and Deborah Waring, members of the' Society of Friends. Her uncle, Samuel Miller Waring (1792-1827), a hymn writer, author of 'Sacred Melodies' (1826), had left the Friends for the Anglican communion; a desire for sacraments led his niece to follow his example; she was baptised on 15 May 1842 at St. Martin's, Winnall, Winchester. She early wrote hymns (her 'Father, I know that all my life' was written in 1846); her verse writing, continued to near the close of life, never lost its freshness, and exhibits at its best a real poetic vein, with a delicate purity of feeling and a ringing melody of diction. James Martineau writes of 'long-standing spiritual obligations' to her (Talbot, p. 27). She had learned Hebrew for the study of the poetry of the Old Testament, and daily read the Hebrew psalter. Her kindly nature was shown in her love of animals, her philanthropy in her constant visits to the Bristol prisons and her interest in the Discharged Prisoners Aid Society. Her friendships were few and deep. With an habitually grave demeanour she combined a 'merry, quiet humour.' She died unmarried on 10 May 1910 at Clifton, Bristol.
She published: 1. 'Hymns and Meditations,' 1850, 16mo; 17th edit. 1896; several American reprints. 2. 'Additional Hymns,' 1858, 12mo (included in subsequent editions of No. 1). 3. 'Days of Remembrance,' 1886 (calendar of Bible texts).
[The Times, 24 May 1910; Julian, Dict., of Hymnology, 1907, pp. 1233 sq., 1723; M. S. Talbot, In Remembrance of A. L. Waring, 1911 (portrait, additional hymns, and other verses); Joseph Smith, Cat. of Friends' Books, 1867, ii. 856.]