Cotterill, Thomas

Cotterill, Thomas an English clergyman and poet, was born at Cannock, Staffordshire, December 4, 1779. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge; ordained in 1806; labored in the ministry successively at Tutbury, Lane End, in the Staffordshire potteries, and at St. Paul's, Sheffield (1817), until his death, December 29, 1823. Besides a book of family prayers, he published (aided by James Montgomery) a Selection of Psalms and Hymns (1819), among which the version of Psalm 103, beginning "Oh bless the Lord, my soul," has become especially popular. Mrs. M.J. Cotterill's hymn, "O thou who hast at thy command, The hearts of all men in thy hand," is from the same collection.