The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould (/'sæba¿n 'b¿¿r¿¿ 'gu¿ld/; 28 January 1834 - 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1240 publications, though this list continues to grow. His family home, the manor house of Lew Trenchard, near Okehampton, Devon, has been preserved as he had it rebuilt and is now a hotel. He is remembered particularly as a writer of hymns, the best-known being "Onward, Christian Soldiers"[1] and "Now the Day Is Over". He also translated the carol "Gabriel's Message" from the Basque language to English.
Sabine Baring-Gould was born in the parish of St Sidwell, Exeter, on 28 January 1834.[3] He was the eldest son and heir of Edward Baring-Gould (1804-1872), lord of the manor of Lew Trenchard, a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant of Devon, formerly a lieutenant in the Madras Light Cavalry (resigned 1830), by his first wife, Sophia Charlotte Bond, daughter of Admiral Francis Godolphin Bond, Royal Navy.[4] Sabine's paternal grandfather was William Baring (died 1846), JP, DL, who in 1795 had assumed by royal licence the additional surname and arms of Gould, in accordance with the terms of his inheritance of the manor of Lew Trenchard from his mother Margaret Gould, daughter and eventual heiress in her issue of William Drake Gould (1719-1767) of Lew Trenchard. The Gould family was descended from a certain John Gold, a crusader present at the siege of Damietta in 1217 who for his valour was granted in 1220 by Ralph de Vallibus an estate at Seaborough in Somerset.[5] Margaret Gould was the wife of Charles Baring (1742-1829) of Courtland in the parish of Exmouth, Devon, whose monument survives in Lympstone Church, 4th son of Johann Baring (1697-1748), of Larkbeare House, Exeter, a German immigrant apprenticed to an Exeter wool merchant, and younger brother of Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet (1740-1810), and John Baring (1730-1816) of Mount Radford, Exeter, which latter two established the London merchant house of John and Francis Baring Company, which eventually became Barings Bank.