Arabella Katherine Hankey (1834–1911) was an English evangelist who is best known for being the author of a poem from which the hymns, Tell me the old, old story and I love to tell the story, were derived.[1][2]
She was born in 1834, the daughter of a prosperous banker in London. Her family were devout Anglicans and members of the Clapham Sect. She was inspired by the Methodist revival of John Wesley and organised and taught in Sunday schools in London. She then did missionary work as a nurse in Africa, assisting her brother.[1]
In 1866, she had a serious illness and was bedridden for a long convalescence.[2] During this time, she wrote her long poem of 100 verses in two parts - The Story Wanted and The Story Told.[1]
She recovered from the illness and lived to the age of 77, dying in 1911.