Elizabeth Clephane

Other names: 
Elizabeth Cecilia Douglas
Dates: 
born 18 June 1830, died 19 Feb. 1869

Elizabeth Clephane was born Edinburgh, the daughter of Anna Maria Douglas, and Andrew Clephane, Sheriff of Fife and Kinross. Her family moved to Melrose, where she became noted for her philanthropy and good work among the poor, selling her horses to provide money for poor relief.

After her death, in Melrose, eight of her hymns appeared in The Family Treasury, a religious magazine, under the heading 'Breathings on the Border'. Two of them became famous, and are still to be found in many hymn books: 'Beneath the Cross of Jesus', and 'There were ninety and nine that safely lay', both published in the 1870s.

Sources
The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women
Entry on Elizabeth Clephane by Richard Watson.