Henry Barraclough

Henry Barraclough (1891–1983) was a British-born American church musician, hymn writer, composer, and Presbyterian church administrator. Educated in England, he studied organ and piano from early childhood. Before entering full-time church-related work, he was employed in insurance and served from 1911 to 1913 as secretary to the British Member of Parliament George Scott Robertson. In 1914 he joined the Chapman-Alexander evangelistic organization as a pianist and soon traveled with the team to the United States.

Barraclough's career then combined music, military service, and denominational administration. Hymnological sources record that he served during the First World War and attained the rank of sergeant major. From 1919 until 1961 he worked as a secretary and later administrator for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, while continuing to write and compose for Christian worship. Hymnary credits him with about twenty hymn texts and roughly 120 tunes, a body of work that places him within the English-speaking gospel-song and church-music tradition of the early and mid-twentieth century.

His best-known work is the 1915 gospel song commonly called "Ivory Palaces," for which he wrote both words and music. His wider catalog also includes other devotional texts and tunes such as "Casting All Your Care," "Follow Jesus All the Way," and settings associated with biblical benediction texts. Barraclough's legacy rests on the unusual combination of revival-era musical service, sustained Presbyterian administrative work, and a substantial output of congregational and devotional song.