Arabella Katherine Hankey (1834–1911)

Arabella Katherine Hankey died in London on May 9, 1911, remembered not for public office or worldly honor, but for a life spent making Christ known. Born into privilege, she chose steady service over comfort, giving herself to Bible work and practical mercy among young women and the poor in the crowded streets of London. Her ministry was marked by patience, tenderness, and a plain confidence that the gospel belongs in workshops, kitchens, lodging houses, and any place ordinary people carry heavy burdens.

Her heroism was quiet: showing up, listening, teaching Scripture, and urging women to hope in Christ when life felt fixed against them. She modeled the kind of courage that does not demand attention, yet refuses to be ashamed of Jesus. “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16).

The Sickbed Poem and Its Hymns

In a season of serious illness, Hankey’s outward work was interrupted, but her witness was not. Confined to bed, she turned suffering into a pulpit, writing a long poem that carefully traced the “old, old story” of Jesus—His love, His cross, and His saving call. The poem’s lines were later shaped into two beloved hymns: “I Love to Tell the Story” and “Tell Me the Old, Old Story.” Their simple words have helped generations speak of Christ with fresh wonder, especially those who feel they have little to offer but a grateful heart.

Hankey’s writing shows how faith can mature in affliction: weakness becomes a doorway for worship, and pain becomes a messenger that points beyond itself to eternal mercy.

A Continuing Call to Tell the Story

Hankey’s legacy is not merely literary; it is evangelical. Her life presses the church to keep speaking clearly about Jesus—without pride, without novelty, and without fear. Scripture gives the same charge: “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so—those He redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” (Psalm 107:2). Her songs endure because the message endures: Christ saves, and His people gladly tell it.