Edward Perronet

Edward Perronet was an English preacher, poet, and hymn writer born probably at Sundridge, Kent, in 1721. His father, Vincent Perronet, was an Anglican vicar of Swiss Huguenot ancestry who became a strong supporter of the evangelical revival. Edward and his brother Charles joined the Methodist movement in the 1740s and traveled with John and Charles Wesley. Contemporary Methodist records show that Edward experienced hostility while itinerating and also became increasingly dissatisfied with Wesley’s control of the societies and with restrictions on who could administer the sacraments.

In 1756 Perronet published “The Mitre,” a long satirical attack on abuses in church and state. The controversy deepened his separation from the Wesleys. He was associated for a time with Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, and later settled in Canterbury as minister of an Independent congregation. His literary publications included biblical verse, hymns, and “Occasional Verses Moral and Sacred.”

“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” is his enduring hymnological contribution. An eight-stanza text appeared anonymously in a Canterbury booklet in 1779, and its opening stanza was printed with William Shrubsole’s MILES LANE in the November 1779 “Gospel Magazine.” Perronet died in Canterbury on January 2, 1792. Modern scholarship generally prefers 1721 for his birth year, although older hymnals often give 1726.