Henry Jacobs (3 January 1824 – 6 January 1901) was a Church of England priest and schoolmaster, and the first Dean of Christchurch, New Zealand.

Biography

Jacobs was born at

Chale Chale is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight of England, in the United Kingdom. It is located three kilometres from Niton in the south of the Island in the area known as the Back of the Wight. The village of Chale lies at the foot ...

Abbey,

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

, the son of William Hearn Jacobs and Ann Tucker. The Jacobs were substantial landowners on the Isle of Wight and two of Henry's ancestors, the Reverend Matthew and the Reverend John Hearn, were rectors of Chale in the 17th century. Jacobs was descended from many of the principal families on the Isle of Wight, including the Oglanders, Worsleys, Urrys, Dingleys and Leighs. He was educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

where he was captain of the school. From Charterhouse he gained a scholarship to

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

. He was awarded an MA degree in 1848, ordained deacon in 1847 and priest in 1848. He became a Michel Fellow of Queen's College. From 1847 to 1848 he was curate of

Bussage Bussage is a village in Gloucestershire, England, in the district of Stroud. Geography There is an older part to the village and a newer part. The village is situated close to the A419, between Brimscombe, Eastcombe and Chalford Hill, a ...

, Gloucestershire, in 1848 he was briefly headmaster of St Nicolas' College,

Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in the Adur District, Adur district, in the county of West Sussex, England. In 2011 it had a population of 20,547. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to ...

, and from 1849 to 1850 curate of All Saints Church, Poplar, London. In 1850 he sailed to New Zealand on to be classical professor of a proposed new college in Canterbury. ''Sir George Seymour'' was one of the

First Four Ships The First Four Ships refers to the four sailing vessels chartered by the Canterbury Association which left Plymouth, England, in September 1850 to transport the first English settlers to new homes in Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zea ...

to carry emigrants from England to the new colony of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in New Zealand on behalf of the

Canterbury Association The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of parliament, Peerage of the United Kingdom, peers, and Anglicanism, Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The se ...

. On arrival he conducted the first

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

service in the Canterbury region and in July 1851, conducted the service at the opening of the first church in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. From 1852 he was headmaster of the Christ's College Grammar School, Christchurch. He was appointed professor of divinity at the new college in 1855. Dean Jacobs opened Christ's College Grammar School on 21 April 1862, as its first headmaster, and became Sub-Warden in the Deed of Foundation of the College on 21 May 1855, and shortly afterwards Watts-Russell Professor. There is a boarding house there named 'Jacobs'. In 1863 he resigned his headmastership to become the incumbent of the parish of St Michael and All Angels, Christchurch, was subsequently collated archdeacon and,"UNIVERSITY AND CLERICAL INTELLIGENCE" ''Jackson's Oxford Journal'' (Oxford, England), Saturday, August 25, 1866; Issue 5913 in June 1866, appointed the first

Dean of Christchurch Christ Church Cathedral, also called ChristChurch Cathedral and (rarely) Cathedral Church of Christ, is a deconsecrated Anglican cathedral in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was built between 1864 and 1904 in the centre of th ...

. In 1872 he accepted the responsibility of editing the ''New Zealand Church News''. He also published a number of pamphlets and poems. After returning from a visit to England in 1891, he suffered a paralysis, died in 1901 and was buried in Barbadoes Street Cemetery in Christchurch. He had married twice: firstly in London in 1850, Charlotte Emily Corrick and secondly, in Christchurch in 1871, Emily Rose Thompson. His two children by his first wife died young; he had several more by his second.

References

------------- * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Henry 1824 births 1901 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Deans of Christchurch Archdeacons of Christchurch Burials at Barbadoes Street Cemetery Head Masters of Lancing College Religious leaders from Christchurch Canterbury Pilgrims