Editing Olney Hymns (section)

== Background of the town==
The English town from which the hymns get their name, [[Olney, Buckinghamshire|Olney]] in [[Buckinghamshire]], was, at the time of first publication, a [[market town]] of about 2,000 people. Around 1,200 of these were employed in its [[lace-making]] industry. This was generally poorly paid, and Cowper is said to have described his neighbours as "the half-starved and ragged of the earth".  The Olney Hymns were written primarily with these poor and under-educated people in mind.

Olney is situated near the borders of Buckinghamshire, [[Bedfordshire]], and [[Northamptonshire]] – an area traditionally associated with religious [[English Dissenters|Dissent]]. Dissenters were [[Protestants]] who refused to follow the rules of the [[Church of England]] after the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] in 1660, and when Newton settled in Olney the town still supported two Dissenting [[chapel]]s. Notable local Dissenters included [[John Bunyan]], from [[Bedford]], author of the ''[[Pilgrim's Progress]]'', and another important hymn writer, [[Philip Doddridge]] (1702–51), from [[Northampton]]. Newton's own associations with Dissenters (his mother was one) meant he was in a position to conciliate with, rather than confront, his parishioners, and he quickly achieved a reputation as a popular preacher. Within his first year at Olney a gallery was added to the church to increase its [[congregational]] capacity, and the weekly prayer-meetings were moved in 1769 to [[Lord Dartmouth]]'s mansion, the Great House, to accommodate even greater numbers. ''Jesus where'er thy people meet'' was written for their first meeting at the Great House.