10 things the same about Wallin, Beddome and Francis

1. All three were Particular Baptists

2. All three were Strict Baptists

3. All three were sons of the manse

4. All three served in only one place

6. All three ministered for over forty years

7. All three were hymn writers

8. All three were published authors

9. All three were awarded an MA by Rhode Island College (later Brown University)

10. All three were called Benjamin and were in Bourton in August 1765

10 Eighteenth Century Baptist Hymn Writers

1. Anne Steele
2. Benjamin Beddome
3. Benjamin Francis
4. Benjamin Wallin
5. Daniel Turner
6. John Fawcett
7. John Rippon
8. John Ryland Jr
9. Robert Robinson
10. Samuel Medley

Benjamin Beddome and Anne Steele

In 1742, when Beddome was 25, he sent a written proposal of marriage to Anne Steele. By then Beddome had been pastor at Bourton on the Water in the Cotswolds for one or two years. How he would have met Anne is uncertain. It may have been that they met in Haycombe near Bath if and when Beddome preached there. Anne had cousins there (the Gays, her mother's sisters children) and would visit at times. Anne refused the proposal but kept the letter. Beddome went on to marry the daughter of one of his deacons, of course. Another possibility is that they met in Whitchurch in Bristol.