Horatius Bonar

Horatius Bonar (1808 – 1889) was a Scottish churchman and poet.

The son of James Bonar, Solicitor of Exise for Scotland, he was born and educated in Edinburgh. He entered the Ministry of the Church of Scotland, and settled at Kelso. He joined the Free Church at the time of the "Disruption" in 1843, and in 1867 was moved to Edinburgh. In 1853 he was made D.D. of Aberdeen. He was a voluminous and highly popular author, and in addition to many books and tracts wrote a number of hymns, many of which, e.g., "I heard the voice of Jesus say," became known all over the English-speaking world. A selection of these was published as Hymns of Faith and Hope (3 series). His last volume of poetry was My Old Letters.

His brother Andrew Bonar was also a well-known Christian writer and minister of the Free Church of Scotland.

This article incorporates text from A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.