13 Ellen Jennings m Rev James Sedgwick Her family

The Jennings Line

Ellen’s family were involved in the Anglican Church.  Her father Rev Peter Harnett Jennings was a minister 

Ellen left England in 1878 and travelled to China with Rev Arthur Elwin and his wife Mary as a governess.

Tracing Ellen’s family

George Jennings

Peter Harnett Jennings was the son of George Jennings b 1790 in Dover Kent.  He married Mary Harnett in 1801.  He died in 1861 in Dover Kent.

He was the son of George Jennings b 1778 in Dover Kent, who married Mary Harnett in 1801.

George Jennings was the son of George Jennings who was born 1753.  In 1777 he married Susannah Balderstone.  He was listed on the marriage record as a widower.

They had two children, George born 1778 and Elizabeth born 1779

Susannah died 26^th January 1787.   She is the 4^th Great grandmother.

Their son, George was quite an influential person in Kent. George married Mary Harnett in 1801 In 1822 he and his wife were involved with the lease of a property at Coldred Manor to his children and relatives.  George was listed as being a woolstapler. (dealer in wool)

Date	10 11 Jul 1822
Description	Settlement by lease for one year and release by Mary and Katherine Finnis, and Elizabeth Harnett, to George Jennings, woolstapler, and Matthew Kennett, gentleman, both of Dover, to the use of Robert Potter, and Elizabeth, his wife, daughter of Elizabeth Harnett: Coldred manor and Home Meadow and Homestead

Coldred is a small rural community, some 7 miles NW of Dover. One of the highest places in East Kent, nearly 400 ft above sea level, it has the reputation of being a "healthy and salubrious place in which to live". As far back as 1700, Coldred held the county record for the longevity of its inhabitants. With just 55 dwellings and a church, the rural scene has changed very little over the centuries. Coldred at one time had two forges. Attached at Coldred Manor, on Church Road just past the green was a small private forge run by Mr Harry Marsh during the 1930s and 40's. The flint building inside the Manor entrance, now converted to a garage was the original workshop.

With a fir, bellows and anvil it was used primarily for shoeing the farm horses. Ideally situated on a site beside the present Parsonage Farm, the public forge was a busy and vital part of the early village life. Intriguingly enough a quantity of Blacksmiths tools were found during recent re-building work on the land adjoining Colret House. Voted Kent's best-kept village, Coldred is one of the highest places in East Kent at nearly 400 feet above sea level.  There are two suggestions as to how the village may have got its name: from Ceoldred, King of Mercia, said to have come here in AD 715 to help the Men of Kent in their fight against Ina, King of the West Saxons, at Woodnesborough, near Sandwich; from the Old English word for charcoal burning - once a local industry.

COLDRED MANOR                                      

A short stroll along Church Lane is Coldred Manor. A lovely old house, the facade is early Georgian. Like most local sites, there is evidence of an earlier building. The rear of the Manor shows walls built with local flint, and plastered-over rubble.

The interior has an interesting architectural blend of styles. The decor is mainly classical Georgian, although there are other and older period features.

One of the rooms has a massive oak plank salvaged from a shipwreck, possibly 17th century, and used as a supporting beam.

A mellow brick wall, granted a preservation order, borders the front garden. The old flint and brick building by the main gate, just visible in the photograph, was the private forge

In 1851 he was recorded on the census as living at Shrubbery House, Buckland in Kent.  He referred to himself as a “landed gentleman”.  

Around 1858 he was listed as living in Shrewsbury,  lived at Buckland in Dover Kent in the years from 1830.  They had four children.  George died in Buckland Kent, and a member of the Gentry who owned a public house.   It appears that he died in 1861.  Mary died in 1863.  

·  Shrubbery Cottages     Details   

Between Dodds Lane and Mangers Place probably took their name from The Shrubbery better known between the wars as the Coleman Convalescent Home and now the residential quarters for nurses at the local hospitals. The Shrubbery is the oldest house in the neighbourhood having been built it is believed in the 18th century for Vice-Admiral Sir John Bentley the then owner of Buckland Manor.

Buckland including Buckland Valley is a village near (and now merged with) Dover, England. It is noted for its Saxon cemetery whose finds now belong to the British Museum but are on display at Dover Museum.

Mary Harnett was born 1780 and died 1863.  She was the daughter of Peter Harnett and Elizabeth Finnis.  Peter Harnett and Elizabeth Finnis were married by licence, 9^th April 1768

She was born in Lydden, Kent. 

Lydden is a civil parish and small village in the Dover district of Kent, England. The Lydden Race Circuit is located between here and Wootton to the west of the village. Lydden village consists of a triangle of 3 roads: Canterbury Road (part of the old A2 running between Dover, Canterbury and London), Stonehall and Church Lane.

The Shrubbery

Dover

Sep 9. 1844.

Sir,

Having for some years endeavoured to procure a Frank of yours without success, a desire to complete my collection of the autographs of the House of Commons. Together with a fear of not being able to obtain it by other means have induced me to apply to you for an envelope dated during the time You sat in the House Trusting you will excuse this liberty

I have the honour to be Sir,

Your ob^t Servant

Peter H Jenning

W. H. F. Talbot Esq

Coldred Manor

A Stroll around Coldred

Elizabeth Finnis was the daughter of Robert Finnis and Ann Spicer.  Robert and Ann wee married at St Mary the Virgin Church in Kent on 28^th November 1750.

                    

St Mary the Virgin Church Dover, restoration has been done, to restore window destroyed in WW2

Peter Harnett –may have been involved in the Church or had some sort of wealth.

In 1791 the lands of Cocklescombe were sold to Peter Harnett in whose family it remained until recent years.                              (History of Lydden    1901 entry in Dover Express)

There are but two mural tablets in the Church, the one which is on the north side of the chancel being in memory of Peter Harnett one of the later owners of Cocklescombe Manor, and his descendants.  The first person mentioned on the slab is Peter Harnett who died 1818, aged 76 next Peter Harnett his son who died 1820 aged 51 years.

 Then follows the record of the death of Peter Jennings son of the above who died 1822 aged 3 years. Next Elizabeth Harnett wife of Peter Harnett sen, who died 16^th April 1837 aged 89. Next George Jennings of the Shrubbery Buckland who died 17^th February 1861 aged 84 years and Mary Jennings his wife (daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Harnett) who died 14^thJuly 1863 aged 83 years.

George Jennings and Mary Harnett had the following children:

George Finch Jennings           1802 – 1866

Mary Jennings                        1806 - 1865

Robert Finnis Jennings          1815 – 1896   i

Peter Hartnett Jennings         1816 – 1893

Adelaide Jennings                  1820 - 1881

Their children were provided with the second names of their ancestors. 

George Finch Jennings married Hester Worthington.  George and Hester lived in Buckland in Kent, and he was a magistrate.  He was also listed as living in Lostbrook Cottage, Eastbrook Place Buckland in 1858, and owner of a public house.  He may have owned it with his father.

On 29th September 1831 George Finch JENNINGS bachelor of St Mary Dover to Hester WORTHINGTON spinster this parish by Licence. Witnessed by Charlotte WORTHINGTON and Charles CARLIN

In 1836 he was a Commissioner for the Town of Dover. In 1853 he was party to an appeal from the Churchwardens of the parish of Reculver to removed one Sarah Ann King and her three children from the parish of St Mary the Virgin Dover

St Peter and Paul, Charlton Dover 1827

It appears they had no children.  Hester’s family were quite well known in Dover.

Hester died February 1874

The Worthington family of Dover achieved a certain prominence in Kent, in the 18th and early 19th centuries, as barrel-markers and, perhaps paradoxically, since contraband liquor usually came in barrels, as officers of the Customs Service. This new exploration of their family history adds significantly to published Worthington genealogy; mainly confined, previously, to the basic study of their roots. 'The Worthington Families of Medieval England' (Phillimore, 1985). Apart from its intrinsic interest to Worthington’s world-wide, the book holds equal appeal to anyone concerned with the work of the Revenue Service at the height of the smuggling era - or simply intrigued by the story of smuggling!

This is largely due to the vast amount of material unearthed by the author relating to the book's principal hero ... Benjamin Jelly Worthington (1763-1822), a Customs Cutter Commander responsible for one of the busiest sections of the south coast.

The literature of the smuggling phenomenon is almost monopolised by studies of the smugglers themselves, so that this account of the work of their enemy, the Customs Officer, provides an unusual and fascinating insight into the life and problems of the Revenue men.

They worked in a climate hostile to their efforts, yet throughout his 40 year career Benjamin Jelly Worthington demonstrated quite remarkable zeal in the pursuit of his prey and the seizure of their contraband.

In the mid-19th century the family began to disperse. One branch went to Lowestoft where three generations became doctors. Some of the Dover family also became doctors and several families with to New Zealand where they were farming pioneers. One of Lieutenant Benjamin's sons went to Wales and some of his descendants are still there. Sea-faring remained a strong attraction amongst the Dover, Welsh, Canadian and New Zealand descendants. Others became artists; three of the family were knighted, and brewing continued to be a family occupation up to the end of the 19th century.

It was Sir Anthony Wagner, when Garet King of Arms, who first drew attention to the great potential of the growth of serious and scholarly research into family history to provide unexpected but invaluable contributions to the fabric of history proper. This book amply confirms his confidence in the conversion of the old-time pedigree hunters into fully-fledged historical researchers. The author, in seeking to illuminate the Worthington’s of Dover, has thrown light on maritime, social, economic and local history and, at the same time, provided and essential source-book for all future students of smuggling!

HM Hired armed cutter Tartar served the Royal Navy from 14 July 1794 to 11 November 1801. She was of 9063/94 tons burthen and was armed with twelve 4-pounder guns

Tartar was a popular name for British privateers with some 23 letters of marque being issued between 1793 and 1815. Among these there was one 90-ton cutter. She was armed with eight 2-pounder guns and six swivel guns. Her crew of 24 men was under the command of Benjamin Jelly Worthington, and her letter was dated 25 February 1793.

While not His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Tartar, a privateer named Tartar made a notable capture in 1804. This Tartar received her letter of marque on 6 February 1804. Her letter describes her as a lugger, under the command of Francis Pironet, Master, of 116 tons and armed with eight 4- and 6-pounder guns. Writing to Admiral Sir James Saumarez from Guernsey on 18 March 1804, the owners Peter Maingy and Sons reported that on 9 March their lugger Tartar had captured the French privateer brig Jeune Henry.

Tartar had encountered and captured the French brig after a fight of two hours. Jeune Henry was from Bordeaux and under the command of Rio Delagesse. She had sailed from Viverro in Spain two days earlier but had not yet captured anything. The owners of Tartar described Jeune Henry as a fine, British-built and coppered vessel. Both vessels had 50 men on board; Jeune Henry had two wounded in the engagement. What made the capture noteworthy though, was that Jeune Henry was armed with twelve 12-pounder guns and two 4-pounders, whereas Tartar had ten 4-pounders, giving the French brig a broadside of almost four times the weight of that of her captor.

Interestingly, there was a later letter of marque issued to a cutter Tartar, Benjamin J. Worthington, Master, issued on 9 June 1803. This Tartar was described as being of 103 tons, armed with eight 4 and 6-pounder guns, and having a crew of 25 men.

Must have been quite helpful, with their son-in-law the local magistrate!

George died in 1866 in Dover, Kent, and Hester died in 1874.

Mary Jennings married a relative of Hester, named Henry Worthington.  Mary was born in 1806 and died in 1865 in Belgium.  Henry died some 4 months later in 1866, in Belgium.

In Kelly's 1855 Directory, Henry Worthington is described as a farmer and brewer of Folkestone Road in the Parish of Hougham. Henry alone is listed as owner of the Snargate Steet wine vaults from 17 October 1855 until 8 January 1863, with D. Barnard the occupier. The Crown appears as owner in October 1863 and Barnard and Co. own and occupy them from January 1864.

Two of Henry's sons were known to be brewers. The last record of a brewer in the family relates to his youngest son Robert. The 1870 Kent Post Office Directory includes under brewers: Robert Worthington, Maxton, Hougham, Dover.

The brewery premises, along with all his estate in Maxton, were left in Henry's will dated 16 December 1865, to his brothers-in-law, the Rev. Peter Harnett Jennings of Longfield Rectory, Gravesend and Robert Finnis Jennings of River, Esquire. These properties were left in trust, to pay yearly rent equally to his daughters Sophia and Maria Henrietta while they remained single. Upon their marriage or deaths the properties were to be sold at auction.

After Sophia's death in Rome in 1883 and Maria's 1885 marriage in Rome the estate was auctioned on 30 July 1885 in accordance with the terms of the will. John James AlIen was the successful bidder for '...All the Manor or Lordship of Maxton in the Parish of Hougham otherwise Huffam... And also all the messuage of dwellinghouse called Maxton with the Brewery brick chimney shafts and other erections and buildings.' AlIen payed £1,500 for the house and grounds and £350 for the brewery.

 His purchase also included: 'all that messuage or tenement beer house and premises known by the name or sign of the "Hare and Hounds" and the appurtenances thereto belonging situated at Maxton'. It appears from the property's sale indenture that Robert Worthington was the lessee of the brewery and beer house which were situated within a mile of each other.

Mary and Henry had 9 children and some of those children died while fairly young. 

Mary’s brother Robert Finnis Jennings was a solicitor and he was responsible for sorting out all the wills and the executors.  Her other brother Peter Harnett Jennings was a minister.  One can imagine that he may have been out of his depth whilst running the Pub!

                                                                              

This picture published by Batcheller, in 1841, depicts Worthington's celebrated Hotel and Ship Inn, once known as the Royal Ship Hotel, facing the Granville Dock on Custom House Quay. Adjoining is Northumberland House. This hotel was active in 1799 with Worthington the host. Before the "Lord Warden" days it was noted for receiving "crowned heads" and other notable. Marshal Blucher was there in 1814. History has it that Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, was carried shoulder high to this amenity when he returned from the low countries following Waterloo in 1815. "Byron life and legend" by Fiona MacCarthy states on page 279 that Lord Byron stayed in the "Ships Inn," Dover before he left England for the last time in 1816.

Robert Finnis Jennings was born 1815 and he married Emma Sladden  10^th December 1845 Her father had a property known as The New Farm in Christ Church Canterbury and lived at Broomfield

Robert was a solicitor, and they lived at River House, River in Kent.  He must have been quite successful, as he had 7 servants in 1851!

In 1848 one of his employees was jailed for stealing uncleaned barley from his property at Northborne.

He was appointed a guardian of the poor of the parish in 1865 and in 1869 he was selling his property East Bottom Farm, Ringwold, near Dover.  Having 400 acres, and a dairy herd.

He also lived at the old River Workhouse. 

River is a village and civil parish Kent, England, United Kingdom, situated between the historic town of Dover and the neighbouring village of Temple Ewell. "Village" is a somewhat loose term for River; it is a community of several thousand and is probably more usefully regarded as a suburb of Dover. After a period of rapid housing development in the 1960s and 1970s, the size and population of River has largely stabilised in recent decades, and little new development is now seen. This is partly because River lies in a steep chalk valley which affords little scope for further expansion. However, it is also true that the Dover area is historically not in the vanguard of high economic growth, being tied almost exclusively to the cross-channel port and various support industries, which have witnessed a gradual decline since the opening of the Channel Tunnel. In transport terms River is well connected, being close to the A2 and A20 trunk routes, having a railway station at Kearsney with direct services to London, and of course being only 3 miles (5 km) from the Port of Dover itself.

Peter Harnett Jenning married Elizabeth Mudge.

Peter Harnett Jennings married Elizabeth Mudge.  Elizabeth’s family were quite famous.

Peter married Elizabeth Mudge October 2^nd 1847, at St John’s Dover  

 They had seven children

Harnett Ellison Jennings                      b 1848               d   1939            Married Agnes Mary Jeken b 1846 

                                                 Rev Harnet Jennings went to Cambridge as did his son Charles.

Katherine Bessie Jennings                     b 1849              d 1905 

                        Katherine did not marry and in 1891 was living with her brother in law James Henry                               Sedgwick and    his son Harold.

Ellen Dumergue Jennings                      b 1850              d 1883               m James Henry Sedgwick

Ada Mary Geraldine Jennings               b 1854               d 1879

William Henry Mudge Jennings             b 1856              d 1881

Courtenay Balderston Jennings              b 1860               d 1954             m Emma Garmeson b 1857

Peter lost his wife in 1861, and at that time his children were quite young. and in the 1861 census, Ellen aged 10 was living with her grandparents, Robert and Caroline Mudge at St Martins Street Dover.

Sadly only two of his children lived a long life, both were Anglican ministers.

This is the house that she lived in with her grandparents on top of a hill, and her grandfather had to walk all the way down to the Port for work.  From the lounge room you can see France.  The current occupant is a little old 93 year old lady!

Following Rev Peter Harnett Jennings

Peter was born in 1816 in Dover Kent, and was christened at St Mary the Virgin Church in Dover, as had been his parents.

In 1841 he was living with his great aunt, Katherine Finnis, his grandfather George Jennings and his sister Adelaide and cousin Elizabeth Worthington in Shrubbery House, Buckland, Kent.

Between 1846 and 1849 he was the Cleric of Tadcaster Yorkshire.

  St. Mary's Church (15th century) Tadcaster, North Yorkshire
St Mary’s Church is mainly 15th century and perpendicular style with pinnacles. It is to be found in an attractive riverside setting with Roman connections. Mentioned by Bede. Interior has a magnificent east window by Morris/Burne-Jones and an unusual English window by Stephen Adam. Good woodwork and many interesting memorials.

 In 1846 he was ordained the deacon of Winchester  

Winchester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and greatest overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe.^[1] Dedicated to the Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and Saint Swithun, it is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and centre of the Diocese of Winchester. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building.    And for those old enough to remember became the words of a song sung by the Beatles and others!

In 1847 he was the Cleric of Richmond, Surrey    St Mary’s

In 1847 he married Elizabeth Mudge in Dover.

From 1849 to 1853 he was the Minister at St Paul’s Southampton and All Saints Southampton. 

In 1853 he was the Chaplain at the royal Infirmary Southampton.

In 1859 he became the Principal of the Operative Jewish Converts’ Institution at Bethnel Green London

Perhaps he and Ellen's husband had something in common that led them to Jerusalem

The society began in the early 19th century, when leading evangelicals, including members of the influential Clapham Sect such as William Wilberforce, and Charles Simeon, decided that there was an unmet need to promote Christianity among the Jews. In 1809 they formed the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews. The missionary Joseph Frey is often credited with the instigation of the break with the London Missionary Society. A later missionary was C. W. H. Pauli.

Abbreviated forms such as the London Jews' Society or simply The Jews' Society were adopted for general use. The original agenda of the society was:

• Declaring the Messiahship of Jesus to the Jew first and also to the non-Jew
• Endeavouring to teach the Church its Jewish roots
• Encouraging the physical restoration of the Jewish people to Eretz Israel - the Land of Israel
• Encouraging the Hebrew Christian/Messianic Jewish movement

The society's work began among the poor Jewish immigrants in the East End of London and soon spread to Europe, South America, Africa and Palestine. In 1811, a five-acre field on the Cambridge Road in Bethnal Green, east London, was leased as a centre for missionary operations. A school, training college and a church called the Episcopal Jews' Chapel were built here. The complex was named Palestine Place. In 1813, a Hebrew-Christian congregation called Benei Abraham (Children of Abraham) started meeting at the chapel in Palestine Place. This was the first recorded assembly of Jewish believers in Jesus and the forerunner of today's Messianic Jewish congregations.

The London Jews Society was the first such society to work on a global basis.^[1] In 1836, two missionaries were sent to Jerusalem: Dr. Albert Gerstmann, a physician, and Melville Bergheim, a pharmacist, who opened a clinic that provided free medical services. By 1844, it had become a 24-bed hospital.^[8]

In its heyday, the society had over 250 missionaries. It supported the creation of the post of Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem in 1841, and the first incumbent was one of its workers, Michael Solomon Alexander.^[10] The society was active in the establishment of Christ Church, Jerusalem, the oldest Protestant church in the Middle East, completed in 1849.

In 1863, the society purchased property outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. In 1897, they opened a hospital on the site, designed by architect Arthur Beresford Pite. Today, the building houses the Anglican International School Jerusalem, which is operated by the society.^]

In 1914, the society was described as

...the oldest, largest, richest, most enterprising, and best organized of its type, and has auxiliary societies throughout the British Isles and Canada. The society, whose income in 1900-01 was £46,338, with an expenditure of £36,910, employed at 52 missionary stations 199 workers, among them 25 clergymen, 19 physicians, 34 female missionaries, 20 lay missionaries, 35 colporteurs, 58 teachers, and 8 apothecaries. Of these, 82 were converts from Judaism. Of the 52 stations 18 are in England, 3 in Austria, 1 in France, 4 in Germany, 2 in Holland, 1 in Italy, 4 in Rumania, 1 in Russia, 1 in Constantinople; in Asia there are 10 stations, among them Jerusalem with 27 workers; in Africa there are 7 stations. About 5,000 Jews have been baptized by the society since its foundation. Its principal organs are the Jewish Missionary Intelligence and the Jewish Missionary Advocate.

The organisation is one of the eleven official mission agencies of the Church of England. It currently has branches in the United Kingdom, Israel, Ireland, the USA, Canada, South Africa, Hong Kong, and Australia.

In 1860 he was the cleric at Hoxley Essex       

From 1861 to 1865 he was the Cleric at Lilley Hertfordshire 

All Saints Church, the Anglican parish church, is Grade I-listed and dates from the 12th century. It is supplemented by the All Saints Church Centre in the centre of the village, which is used as a church hall and for worship. St Francis de Sales' Roman Catholic church, a Grade II-listed building, is a 17th-century former barn with timber framing and a thatched roof  Hartley United Reformed Church (formerly Congregational) was registered for worship in 1936  but has closed and has been put up for sale.

In 1881 Peter had remarried Ellinor Frances Frewen Fletcher and they were living at 8 Campden-hill Square, Kensingston London   

Rev Peter Harnett Jennings died 2^nd August 1893.

June 11 1881 at the parish church of St Mary Abbott’s Kengsington the Rev P Harnett Jennings MA Rector of Longford Kent to Ellinor Frances, eldest daughter of the late William Fletcher Esq of the India Board, Westminster and Notting hill Square.

1.    Harnett Ellison Jennings

Harnett Ellison Jennings married Agnes Mary Jeken.  He was the Vicar of St Clement’s East Dulwich for 51 years and a clerk in Holy Orders for 65.  They were married February 1^st 1872, and celebrated their 65^th wedding anniversary in 1937.

In 1873 they were living in Palmacotta India, where their eldest son was born. And later at 11 Maison Dieu Road, Dover.

They had four children:

 

John Harnett Jennings                      1873

Catherine Mary Jennings                 1877

Charles Jennings                              1881 – 1979   He married Margaret Tate.

William Jennings                             1882

 Both he and his sons went to Cambridge University and which provide the following information.

COLLEGE:   CORPUS CHRISTI

Michs. 1868

14 Aug 1848

26 Jan 1939

Peter went to Cambridge and his record is listed below: Adm. pens. at CORPUS CHRISTI, Oct. 1, 1868. [S. of the Rev. Peter  Harnett (1839), and Elizabeth Mudge. B. Aug. 14, 1848. School, Merchant Taylors'.] Matric. Michs. 1868; Scholar, 1870; B.A. 1872; M.A. 1876. Ord. deacon (London, for Colonies) 1871; priest (Madras) 1873.  Missionary (C.M.S.) in Madras, 1871-3. C. of Chesham, Bucks., 1873-5. C. of Hungerford, Berks., 1875-9. C. of St George's, Campden Hill, Middlesex, 1879-80. C. of E. Shefford, Berks., 1880. Sec., dio. Pretoria, S. Africa, 1880-2. Org. Sec., Church Defence Inst., 1882-5. C. of St Clement's, E. Dulwich, Surrey, 1883-5; V. there, 1885-1936. St Antholin (Wednesday) Lecturer at St Mary Aldermary, London, 1890-1936. Preb. of Truro, 1936-9. F.Z.S., 1931. ‘In politics, a liberal Conservative; in party-theology, an Anglo-Catholic;–who owes in both capacities an immense amount to Cambridge.’ Married, Feb. 1, 1872, Agnes Mary, dau. of James Jeken, Esq., of Martin-by-Dover. Latterly of Chapel House, Ospringe, Faversham, Kent, where he died Jan. 26, 1939. Father of Charles (1900); brother of William H. M. (1875) and Courtenay B. (1881). (H. E. Jennings (letter dated Aug. 1936); Crockford; The Times, Jan. 28, 1939.)

CORPUS CHRISTI

Michs. 1875

26 Sep 1856

18 Mar 1881

Adm. pens. at CORPUS CHRISTI, Oct. 4, 1875. Of Southampton. [3rd s. of the Rev. Peter Harnett (1839), R. of Longfield, Kent. B. Sept. 26, 1856.] Bapt. Nov. 14, 1856, at All Saints', Southampton. Schools, Norwich and Rochester Grammar. Matric. Michs. 1875; Scholar, 1877; B.A. 1879. Mathematical master at Bath Grammar School, 1880-1. Died there Mar. 18, 1881. Brother of Harnett E. (1868) and Courtenay B. (1881). (H. E. Jennings; Rochester Sch. Re

Excerpt from the UK papers:

The Rev. Harnett Ellison Jennings, vicar of St Clement’s East Dulwich, S.E. has astonished medical science. As a young man he was told by doctors that he  could not live to be more than twenty-five.

Now eighty three years old, he has been the vicar of the same church for forty nine years, and celebrates his diamond wedding today. “I returned from India, where I was doing missionary work when I was young”, he said, I was a physical wreck and all the doctors I saw despaired of my life.  But my wife pulled me though and today we have children living in Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

His son Charles was a Captain in 7^th Batn Leiscester Regiment in WW1 and taken prisoner.  He retired from the war as a Major.  He became an instructor at the Royal Military College and later Head master of Avisford Roman Catholic Prep School Arundel in Sussex.  He died 1879 in West Sussex

Charles Jennings also went to Cambridge

Charles. Jennings
College:	PEMBROKE
Entered:	Michs. 1900
Born:	10 Jul 1881
More Information:	Adm. at PEMBROKE, Oct. 1900. 2nd s. of the Rev. H. [Harnett] Ellison (1868), V. of St Clement's, Dulwich. B. July 10, 1881, at West Dulwich. School, Lancing. Matric. Michs. 1900; B.A. 1903; M.A. 1931. A private tutor, 1905-14. Assistant Master at Wells House School, Malvern Wells. Served in the Great War, 1914-19 (Capt., 7th Batt., Leics. Regt., and Gen. List, 25th Div.; prisoner of war). Instructor, R.M.C., 1925-7; retired as Major. Head Master of Avisford Roman Catholic prep. school at Arundel, Sussex, 1928-45-. (Rev. H. E. Jennings; Lancing Coll. Reg.; Pembroke Coll. Reg.; Schoolmasters' Directories; Univ. War List; The Catholic Who's Who.)

 

He had a son Michael Jennings who was awarded the Military Cross in WW2.

He was awarded his Masters of Arts in 1875

 

Obituary from The Times Jan 28 2003

From The Times January 28, 2003 Michael Jennings Tank commander whose exemplary bravery aided a successful raid to liberate a Dutch village MICHAEL JENNINGS was awarded the Military Cross as a young tank troop commander for exceptional bravery during the clearance of German forces from southeast Holland in the autumn of 1944. In the afternoon of October 17, two squadrons of the 15th/19th King’s Royal Hussars were supporting 159 Infantry Brigade in an attempt to break through German positions east of Eindhoven in an advance to the Maas Canal. The squadron, in which Jennings commanded a troop of four tanks, and 1st Battalion, The Hereford Regiment, were ordered to take the village of Ijsselstein lying on the brigade axis. The flat, boggy countryside, criss-crossed by dykes and canals, offered no cover for either tanks or infantrymen as they moved up the road. In this ideal defensive situation, the enemy had the approaches covered with dug-in 88mm and 75mm anti-tank guns, while the mined and waterlogged terrain made it impossible to deploy off the road. Despite these seemingly insurmountable tactical difficulties, Jennings led his troop down the road to Ijsselstein. After half a mile, his Cromwell tank was hit and the driver wounded. Changing into a second tank, he continued under heavy shellfire until this also received a direct hit. One member of his crew was killed, and Jennings suffered burns to his face and hands. Nonetheless, he continued to lead the attack until his tank was set ablaze. He ordered the crew out, but realising the driver was not with them, he returned only to find him dead. Under close and accurate machinegun fire, he applied dressings to the wounds of the two remaining crew who had taken cover in the ditch. The citation for his Mc emphasised that his example was largely responsible for the attack on Ijsselstein being pressed home.

 Michael Jennings was born in Cairo, where his father, Major Charles Jennings, was serving. When the family moved to England, he was educated at Ampleforth and Pembroke College, Cambridge, until the outbreak of war. The injuries he sustained at Ijsselstein resulted in 18 months of extensive plastic surgery at the hands of the pioneering English surgeon Percy Jayes. On his return to Cambridge he took his degree in history and in 1948 began teaching at Avisford, his father’s Roman Catholic preparatory school near Arundel. Later he and his wife Mariella Woodthorpe, the painter, gradually built it up into one of the best-known Roman Catholic preparatory schools in the country. Avisford closed its doors in 1974 when Jennings became Headmaster of Downside’s junior school, Plunkett House. Jennings retired from teaching when he was 74 but remained active in the British Legion and Amnesty International. He also enjoyed translating French poetry, in particular La Fontaine and José-María de Heredia. He is survived by his wife, whom he married in 1952, eight sons and three daughters.

Michael Jennings, MC, soldier and schoolmaster, was born on December 2, 1920. He died on December 27, 2002, aged 82. 

He was a Major in the Army according to his mother's will.  She left an estate of £10,000.  A lot of money in 1941

He arrived back in England aboard the Kenilworth Castle, in September 1909 from working in Pretoria

2. Katherine Bessie Jennings b 1849 in Tadcaster and died in 1905 unmarried.

In 1861, Katherine was at the St Mary’s Hall School Brighton   

Revd. Henry Venn Elliott had visited the clergy daughter school in Casterton (which was attended by all Bronte sisters and was the inspiration for Jane Eyre) founded in 1832 by the Revd. Carus Wilson and was keen that there should be "a similar institution in the South". The pupils were "destined to be governesses" and Henry Venn Elliott considered Brighton as the place to build the school as the Prince Regent had made it a very popular place to live, and there would be many wealthy families looking for a Governess. The therapeutic qualities of the sea air appear also to have been a factor. (Those of us who boarded at St Hilary House remember the qualities very well, especially in the winter term!)

Looking back to the earliest register of pupils and their post-school destinations, it does not appear to have proved a particularly useful source of employment but Henry Venn Elliott was obviously a very practical man and not short of influence and powers of persuasion.

The Marquis of Bristol, who had property in Kemp Town, gave £500 for land on which the school was built. Henry Venn Elliott persuaded George Basevi (the very well-known architect of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge) to provide plans for "The Hall" free of charge, and collected some very influential supporters with money to contribute - Queen Adelaide was one. (Adelaide House).

Henry Venn Elliott was vicar of St. Mary's Church in Brighton - hence the name of the school - and the girls attended the services there. Some years later (1850/60s?) the Earl of Bristol decided to build a Church for the school in the same grounds and reading between the lines of the reports at that time, the Revd. Henry Venn Elliott was not best pleased and stipulated that the girls would continue to attend St. Mary's in his lifetime.
Subscriptions for the new Church building were somewhat slow in coming and "the Earl of Bristol had to pay for the glazing himself".

The early reports include a prospectus and clothes list which are historically interesting. The clothes list states that "Every girl will bring with her a Bible and a Prayer Book, a new umbrella...." and a variety of petticoats (cotton, stuff, flannel); and "a silver knife spoon and fork which will be returned " ."Frocks, tippets and shawls will be provided by the Hall". (More intimate garments in the form of "6 pairs of drawers" appear somewhere around 1860s/70s). A laundry list of the 1880s/90s also proved interesting. (Later boarders recall the restrictions on "mufti" including as late as 1970 NO trousers - amended at around that time to be interpreted as NO jeans, but "smart trousers permitted except on Sundays).

The annual accounts have a simplicity that many schools would envy to-day. The Lady Principal was paid £100p.a. (quite a princely sum then) and the six "governesses" a total of £150. "Butchers' meat" was nearly the same as the sum total for the Governesses and "Hair-cutting, coal and candles" all came under the same heading. Beer was also quite an item - presumably because the water was not fit for drinking.

Educationally the school was very far advanced and the school taught a great deal more than the usual "accomplishments" of that era. They took the training of a Governess very seriously indeed. The pupils arrived about the age of eight and became pupil-teachers somewhere in their mid-teens staying on until they were considered "qualified". We believe that the school was also one of the earliest schools who took the Cambridge Public Examinations in the 1870s - certainly the breadth of the curriculum including sciences, was unusual for girls at that time.

3. Ellen Jennings was the second daughter of Peter Harnett Jennings. 

She was born in 1850, in Sheffield.  At the time of her mother’s death, in 1861, she was living with her grandparents at St Martin’s Street Dover.

Between 1861 and her marriage in 1881, there are no records to be found of Ellen at all.  Her two sisters went to the St Mary’s Hall school in Brighton.

Ellen went to China with Rev Elston, as a governess for his children.

What a brave lady, travelling to such a remote part of the World.

She met and married Rev James Henry Sedgwick and she died at or around the time of the birth of her son.

He remarried in 1903.  Ellen was buried in China, and unfortunately all the headstones and the cemetery were destroyed.  A photo is in the Sedgwick files.

4. Charles Pollexfen Jennings

 He was born 1852 in Southampton, and died in tragic circumstances in 1873.

Charles had been serving on the SS Wolverene in Africa and had been invalided home.  He was walking with his brother Harnett Jennings beside the wharf at Dover, and he decided to go for a swim.  Unfortunately he drowned.  The following article regarding the accident and the coroners inquest, appeared in the newspapers

5. Ada Mary Geraldine Jennings

Ada was born in 1854 in Southampton, and died in 1879 in Dartford borough, Kent

Ada attended school where her father was the headmaster in Bethnel Green in 1861, and then at St Mary’s Hall Brighton in 1871

.Ada died in 1879 aged 25.

6. William Henry Mudge Jennings

William was born in 1856 and christened at All Saints Southampton.  In 1861 he was attending the Bethnel Green School where his father was the principal.  In 1871 he was at Hartley Kent.

In 1875 he attended the Norwich and Rochester Grammar Schools and he matriculated with a BA in 1879.

He was the mathematical master at the Bath Grammar School from 1880 – 1881.

He died in 1881.  From the letters in the Birmingham Library Archives, it seems that he died of consumption.

William Henry Mudge. Jennings
College:	CORPUS CHRISTI
Entered:	Michs. 1875
Born:	26 Sep 1856
Died:	18 Mar 1881
More Information:	Adm. pens. at CORPUS CHRISTI, Oct. 4, 1875. Of Southampton. [3rd s. of the Rev. Peter Harnett (1839), R. of Longfield, Kent. B. Sept. 26, 1856.] Bapt. Nov. 14, 1856, at All Saints', Southampton. Schools, Norwich and Rochester Grammar. Matric. Michs. 1875; Scholar, 1877; B.A. 1879. Mathematical master at Bath Grammar School, 1880-1. Died there Mar. 18, 1881. Brother of Harnett E. (1868) and Courtenay B. (1881). (H. E. Jennings; Rochester Sch. Reg.)

7. COURTENAY BALDERSTON JENNINGS

His mother died around the time of his birth, and at the age of 3 months he has being cared for by Mr and Mrs. Langley at 5 Buckland Street Buckland.  Mr John Langley was a cleric at St Andrews Church Buckland.

He was back living with his father and family by 1871.  He also went to Cambridge.

Courtenay Balderston. Jennings
College:	CORPUS CHRISTI
Entered:	Michs. 1881
Born:	28 Dec 1860
More Information:	Adm. pens. at CORPUS CHRISTI, Oct. 1, 1881. Of London. [4th s. of the Rev. Peter Harnett (1839) and Elizabeth (née Mudge). B. Dec. 28, 1860, at Cambridge Heath, London, N.E. School, King's, Rochester (scholar).] Matric. Michs. 1881; B.A. 1884; M.A. 1900. Ord. deacon (Norwich) 1885; priest (Carlisle) 1886; C. of Wetheringsett, Suffolk, 1885-6. C. of St George's, Millom, Cumb., 1886-7. C. of Crayford, Kent, 1888-9. V. of Hose, Leics., 1889-1901. Chaplain at Madeira, 1901-2. C. of Castor, Northants., 1902-7. V. of Foxton, Cambs., 1907-12. V. of Bozeat and R. of Strixton, Northants., 1912-22. R. of Paglesham, Essex, 1922-46. Of Halstead, Essex, in 1947. (King's Sch., Rochester, Reg.; Crockford.)

In 1885 he was ordained a deacon at Norwich, then priest at Carlisle in 1886.  Church of Crayford, Kent 1888 – 9, Vicar of Hose Leicestershire 1889 – 1901.

In 1901 – 2 He was the Chaplain at Madeira, and

 in 1902 – 7 Cleric of Castor, Northamptonshire.                  

In 1902 – 1907 he was the Vicar of Foxton, Cambridgeshire

Then 1907 – 1912 the Vicar of Bozeat

                                    

and Rector of Strixton Northanthampshire 1912 -1922

Rector of Paglesham, Essex 1922 – 1946                      

Officer of Halstead Essex in 1947                                

In 1891 he married Emma Garmeson. 

They had four children

Ada Mary Jennings                             1892

Edward Courtenay Jennings              1894    d  1974

Kathleen Elizabeth Jennings              1896

William Lukes Jennings                     1899 – 1977

He died 27^th December 1954 and is buried at St Peters Anglican Church Paglesham Essex

John Hartnett Jennings. Some facts of his life.

3 Apr 1881 • 11 Maison Dieu Road, Dover, Kent, England Relation to Head of House: Grandson; Age: 8; Scholar

5 Apr 1891 • 137 Barry Road, Camberwell, London, England Relation to Head of House: Son; Age: 18; Scholar

20 Oct 1891 • Keble, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England Matriculation; Age: 18; from Dulwich College

2 Apr 1911 • St Clements Parsonage, 137 Barry Road, Camberwell, London SE, England

Marital Status: Single; Relation to Head of House: Son; Age: 38; Clerk in Holy orders, Curate of St Clement, East Dulwich

1921-1923 • 137 Barry Road, Camberwell, London SE22, England

1927 • Vicarage, Hooton Pagnell, Doncaster, Yorkshire, England

Death 28 Feb 1929 • Doncaster, Yorkshire West Riding, England

JENNINGS the reverend John Harnett of the Vicarage Hooton Pagnall Doncaster clerk died 28 February 1929 Probate London 2 May to Katharine Mary Jennings spinster. Effects £1579 7s. 8d.

Since being involved with researching the family history, one thing that really annoys me (stronger words would describe this), is the rubbish that people, unknown to the family, and unknown to the full facts, end up writing about certain people.

This time it is regarding John Harnett Jennings, a cousin.  Now this piece might have some truth, but it also seems to have a lot of damming information.

Wet nursed and punkawallered through Dulwich!

Reverend John Harnett Jennings

 Odds are, he was a bastard of the very worst sort: a youngest-son, silver-spoon, spoilt child of Empire, wet-nursed and punkawallered through Dulwich and Keble Colleges, then steamered back to Palamcotta, the city of his birth, a missionary clerk with twin shiny-eyed ambitions: bettering sambo and servanted ease.

 Lady Julia gave him refuge from his vapour-fit burn-out, worn down by the heathen of the Tamil Nadoo; idolatrous Hindoos, fanatical Mohammedans, and those monkeys in suit-coats, the Indian

National Congress, their Anti-Christ dream of poorna swaraj. All Saints at Hooton, a sinecure with a stipend: Sunday service, weddings and funerals, tiffin with her Ladyship and the Primrose League.

 At midnight there was a cry made. Behold, the bridegroom cometh. They buried you in the overspill cemetery, by Lady Julia’s bishop-blessed lych-gate. Perhaps you designed your who’s-who gravestone, white marble with hammered-lead lettering, marking you apart from the lock-jawed gritstones standing mute in crass West Riding earth. That’s where I found you, pale and fading, on your exile’s grave.

 Peacocks calling from the croquet lawn; wallahs fetching cake and manzanilla; home from home. Reverend Jennings, forgive my maybe slanderous fancy: odds are, you were a decent man; a saint, a scholar, hale-cleric-well-met. Whatever you were, now cold in our clays, your life belongs to me.

Steve Ely‘s book of poems Oswald’s Book of Hours is published by Smokestack and has been nominated for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. 

STEVE: Quite a few people have commented on the male world of these two books and gently implied that there may be misogyny at work. I’ve just had a quick trawl through Oswald’s Book of Hours and noted (in addition to Our Lady and the various female lurchers and long dogs) ‘affectionate or respectful’ references to Mary Tudor & Elizabeth Barton (‘Obsecro te’ & ‘O intemerata’), the un-named Flemish girl in ‘Beati, quorum remissae’, my daughter in the first poem of ‘Hours of the Dead’, Mary Magdalen in the poem of that name in ‘Memorials of the Saints’ and Margaret of Kirkeby in ‘Richard Rolle’. A similar trawl through Englaland reveals ‘affectionate or respectful’ references to ‘a girl’ in poem ‘X’ of ‘The Battle of Brunanburh’; ‘domestics and milkmaids’ in poem ‘XXI’; there are ‘affectionate’ if not ‘respectful’ references to women (and men) in ‘Eight Miles Out’;

Lady Julia Warde-Aldam turns up in ‘Reverend John Harnett Jennings'; there are incidental but ‘respectful’ references to women in ‘The Field Church, Frickley’; ‘the booze-loosened lasses’ of ‘Big Billy’ are portrayed ‘affectionately’ and, I think ‘respectfully’; ‘Krakumal’ is Ragnar’s death-bed paean to his wife, Aslaug (Kraka); several women are mentioned in ‘Irish Blood, English Heart’ and ‘Mrs Duffy’ gets a poem to herself. So maybe there are more ‘positive’ or at least ‘neutral’ references to women than you think.
The specific reference you make to possible casual misogyny (in ‘A Lytle Gest of John Nevison’), in which the narrator uses the term ‘bitch’ in lieu of ‘woman’, may actually be compounded by his subsequent reference to the innkeeper’s adulterous wife as a ‘whore’.

However, the narrator of ‘A Lytle Gest of John Nevison’ is a working-class raconteur of a certain type, an outlaw and provocateur himself , hymning his hero’s deviance in a deliberately scandalous way, variously praising his hero’s fecklessness, his penchant for armed robbery and running protection rackets, his contempt for the rich, his treachery, womanising and reckless cunning. The poem ends with the narrator himself threatening the audience. The narrator’s possible misogyny is part of a range of disreputable attitudes he owns.

http://www.thecompassmagazine.co.uk/boxall-review-1/

The most convincing and engaging movements are those in which the personal is conjured – even if, in some cases, this personal slant is an invented one. In ‘Reverend John Harnett Jennings’ Ely draws an intriguing portrait of the Victorian missionary, only to lampoon it in the final stanza:

‘…Reverend Jennings, forgive me my maybe slanderous fancy: odds are, you were a decent man; a saint, scholar, hale-cleric-well-met. Whatever you were, cold in your clays – your life belongs to me.’

For all Ely’s evident love of history, he is not afraid to trample it – to impose himself, as we all must, in order to understand it, and to spellbinding effect.

The Primrose League was an organisation for spreading Conservative principles in Great Britain. It was founded in 1883 and active until the mid-1990s. It was finally wound up in December 2004.

Sir Winston Churchill, in his book on his father, Lord Randolph Churchill published in 1906, stated that, the Primrose League had one million paid up members "determined to promote the cause of Toryism"

Membership of the League was "well over a million by the early 1890s" and at that time enjoyed more support than the British trade union movement. 6,000 people were members of the League in Bolton in 1900, as large as the national membership of the Independent Labour Party during the same time. However by 1912 the League's membership had fallen to just over 650,000 as other leagues emerged, such as the Tariff Reform League and the Budget Protest League.

With the granting of universal suffrage after the First World War, the Conservative Party leadership decided "A mass membership now seemed a necessary object if the Conservatives were to be on an equal footing with the mass battalions of the trade unions", and so with the scaling up of party membership the need for ancillary support from organisations such as the Primrose League diminished, particularly as a conduit of female support who had now gained the vote and could be full members of the Conservative Party.

Activities

Members were expected to actively support the league, and to keep up interest a programme of social events was organised for the membership "of which the Primrose summer fête, often held in the grounds of stately homes opened for the first time for this purpose, provided the grand annual climax". That the events the members would often be addressed by, and have the opportunity to meet members of the Parliamentary Conservative Party

Prior to World War II, the League was still able to pack the Royal Albert Hall for its annual Grand Habitation. It continued its activities after the war and celebrated its centenary in 1983 with its usual round of social and political events.

The League's Gazette carried articles by leading politicians of the day, even Margaret Thatcher (September/October 1977), but following the resignation of its industrious secretary of 45 years, Evelyn Hawley, C.B.E., at the end of 1988, it went into terminal decline.