WILLIAM WALSHAM HOW (1823–1897)  , English divine, son of a Shrewsbury solicitor, was born on the 13th of December 1823, and was educated at Shrewsbury school and Wadham College, Oxford . He was ordained in 1846, and for upwards of thirty years was actively engaged in parish work at Whittington in Shropshire and Oswestry (rural dean, r86o) . He refused preferment on several occasions, but his energy and success made him well known, and in 1879 he became a suffragan bishop in London, under the title of bishop of Bedford, his province being the East End . There he became the inspiring influence of a revival of church work . He founded the East London Church Fund, and enlisted a large band of enthusiastic helpers, his popularity among all classes being immense . He was particularly fond of children, and was commonly called " the children's bishop." In 1888 he was made bishop of Wakefield, and in the north of England he continued to do valuable work . His sermons were straightforward, earnest and attractive; and besides publishing several volumes of these, he wrote a good deal of verse, including such well-known hymns as " Who is this so weak and helpless," " Lord, Thy children guide and keep." In 1863–1868 he brought out a Commentary on the Four Gospels; and he also wrote a Manual for the Holy Communion . In the movement for infusing new spiritual life into the church services, especially among the poor, How was a great force . He died on the roth of August 1897 . He was much helped in his earlier work by his wife . Frances A . Douglas (d .

1887) . See his Life by his son, F . D . How (1898) .