Faber, Frederick William (1814–1863)

English hymn writer and Oratorian. At first a minister of the Church of England, he became a Roman Catholic priest 1845, under the influence of John Newman, and superior of the London branch of the Oratory of St Philip Neri (Brompton Oratory) 1849. His Collected Hymns were published 1861, including ‘O Gift of Gifts, O Grace of Faith’, ‘Paradise, O Paradise’, and ‘Hark, Hark, My Soul’.

Faber was born in Calverley, Yorkshire. At Oxford he won the Newdigate prize for poetry. As a Catholic, he founded a religious community in Birmingham, later merged in the Oratory of St Philip Neri, with Newman at the head. In 1849 a branch was formed in London, with Faber as superior.