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The hymn Jerusalem, My Happy Home... 

is often credited to English clergyman Joseph Bromehead. 

However, what he wrote is adapted from an earlier source, identified only with the initials F.B.P. 

This may refer to Francis Baker Porter, a Roman Catholic priest imprisoned in the Tower of London during the time of Queen Elizabeth I. One view is that he created this song as an expression of his longing for the liberty of heaven.

The original had twenty-six stanzas. 

This was pared down to nineteen in a 1601 publication. 

Later hymn writers, James Montgomery (†1854) and Joseph Bromehead further amended the song. 

Its long and tangled history accounts for the varying versions found in our hymnals.

[bron]