Introduction

Biography

William was the son of Hen­ry and Lu­cy Ma­ry Drap­er. He married three times: to Char­lotte Ed­ith Den­man, Syl­via Rich­ards and Em­ily Au­gus­ta Wright.

He was edu­cat­ed at Ke­ble College, Ox­ford (BA in hon­ors, MA 1880).

Ordained in 1880, he served as cur­ate of St. Ma­ry’s, Shrews­bury; vicar of Al­fre­ton, Der­by­shire; vicar of the Ab­bey Church, Shrews­bu­ry; rector of Adel, York­shire (1899–1919); Mas­ter of the Tem­ple, Lon­don (1919–30); and vicar of Ax­bridge, So­mer­set.

Works

• The Vic­to­ria Book of Hymns, 1897
• Hymns for Ho­ly Week (Lon­don: H. Frowde, 1898)
• A Me­mo­ri­al Ser­vice for Them That Are Fall­en As­leep in Christ (Lon­don: H. Frowde, 1898)
• The Way of the Cross (Ox­ford, Eng­land: A. R. Mow­bray)

In ad­di­tion, Drap­er con­trib­ut­ed hymns to the Guard­ian, Church Month­ly, and oth­er ma­ga­zines. He wrote about 60 hymns al­to­ge­ther.