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==Bankruptcy==
Unlike most authors, Mr. Midlane never took out a copyright for any of his hymns, and never derived any monetary benefit from them, and having become a guarantor for a friend, he was reduced to bankruptcy. Admirers throughout the country, in conjunction with the Sunday School Union, raised a sum which enabled the bankruptcy to be annulled, and provided an annuity for Midlane and his wife.
cleaned up
Further reflection from another, "There came at an early period into the mind of one enjoying such holy influences, clear convictions concerning his state before God" and that blessing came to his soul at a Sunday School teachers' prayer meeting. He was baptized at Castle-hold Baptist Church, Newport.
===Intro to the Plymouth Brethren===<br />At the age of 23, it is cited in his Wikipedia biography that he "joined the Plymouth Brethren".
===later Isle of Wight split===<br />Isle of Wight, which is the area where Midlane fellowshipped, contained an Exclusive meeting that split in 1876 over the "[[Ramsgate Question]] that split in a village of Ryde containing two Exclusive meetings, one initiated as a split by a former Anglican clergyman named Finch, that ultimately led to [[Edward Cronin]] being excommunicated and the Kelly Division, which was the first major split from within the Exclusives.
==Work==
After completing his schooling at Newport, he worked three years in a printing office, then became an ironmonger's assistant, then was self-employed as a tinsmith and ironmonger at the corner of St. James Street and South Street (since carried on as Gray's Waterproof Depot). Between the address of his shop and Forest Villa, where he lived, was the little Gospel Hall where he labored.
== Hymn Hymn Writing==
He wrote his first hymn at the age of seventeen while visiting Carisbrooke Castle in September 1842, entitled "Hark! In The Presence Of Our God". It was published in "Youth's Magazine" in November 1842 under the name of "Little Albert". His first hymn that brought eventual fame was "God Bless Our Sunday Schools" written at nineteen on May 24, 1844, and used the National Anthem as its tune.
For the year 1908 he counted "just about 200 published compositions, which is about the annual average". This total, however, included verses on national and local topics in the "Isle of Wight County Press" and other periodicals, as well as historical prose. He also edited a local magazine entitled "Island Greetings". He was noted to have been on friendly terms with Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate, who lived eleven miles away.
===There's A Friend For Little Children===<br />His most notable hymn, "There's a Friend for Little Children", was written at the age of thirty-four on February 7, 1859 and was published in December 1859 in a periodical entitled "Good News for the Little Ones", a little paper for children, [[edited by Charles H. Mackintosh]], printed under the heading "Above The Bright Blue Sky", which "at once gained popularity".
It was included in the supplement to "Hymns Ancient and Modern" (1868) when a tune was composed offhand for it entitled "In Memoriam" (a tribute to his young son, Fred), by Sir John Stainer, at the request of the musical committee for the hymnbook. Stainer was an Anglican arranger credited with popularizing several current Christmas carols.
* 487: "Sweet The Theme Of Jesus' Love"
==Marriage, Family, Death==
He married Miriam Grainger, daughter of James Grainger of Newport, on March 20, 1851 and they had two sons and one daughter. Unlike most authors, Mr. Midlane never took out a copyright for any of his hymns, and never derived any monetary benefit from them, and having become a guarantor for a friend, he was reduced to bankruptcy. He Admirers throughout the country, in conjunction with the Sunday School Union, raised a sum which enabled the bankruptcy to be annulled, and provided an annuity for Midlane and his wife. He died of an apoplectic seizure on February 27, 1909 at his home in Forest Villa on South Mall, Newport, Isle of Wight. He was buried in the Carisbrooke cemtery. Mrs. Midlane died January 13, 1914.
==Sources==
