These words were written by Walter John Mathams at the special request of the Psalms and Hymns committee of the Scottish Baptist Union. It was published in Psalms and Hymns for School and Home, 1882.

Mathams was born in London on October 30, 1853. He went to sea at an early age. He was shipwrecked, forced to undergo army service in Brazil, joined the Alaska gold rush, and then returned to England via Palestine. In 1874 he decided to train for the Baptist ministry. His first pastorate was at Preston, Lancashire, but he suffered from ill health and went to Australia in 1879. He returned in 1883 and was appointed to Falkirk. He served in Birmingham from 1888 to 1900 when he joined the Church of Scotland. He was appointed chaplain to the Scottish forces in Egypt from 1900 to 1902, reordained in 1905, and then ministered in the Orkney Islands and Inverness-shire until retirement in 1919. He died at Swanage, Dorset, on January 29, 1931. In addition to some other hymns, he wrote religious books in popular style. This present hymn is more than a children’s hymn because it covers childhood, youth, and old age, the progression of thought requesting Jesus to be a friend for the whole period of life.

SIMONSIDE was composed by the Seventh-day Adventist pastor, poet, and musician, Joseph Harker (1880-1970; see SDAH 265) after he had read Matham’s words several times and meditated about the life and character of the author. It was named to commemorate the name of the street in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, where Harker lived and taught music for many years. He also composed SDAH 265, PARACLETE.

📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.