John Geraint Jenkins (1929 – 15 August 2009), known as J. Geraint Jenkins, was a native Welsh speaker, maritime historian and historian of rural crafts.

Career

Jenkins was born in 1929 into a Welsh-speaking "seafaring" family based near

Llangrannog Llangrannog (; sometimes spelt as Llangranog) is a village and Community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales, southwest of New Quay. It lies in the narrow valley of the River Hawen, which falls as a waterfall near the middle of the villag ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

; he attended the village school and Cardigan Grammar School, before completing his university education at the University Colleges of Wales at

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

and

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

. He graduated from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1950 with a degree in geography and anthropology, and then completed a master's degree there under E. G. Bowen and Alwyn J. Rees. He worked at a museum in

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from 1952 to 1953, when he was appointed Assistant Keeper at the

Museum of English Rural Life The Museum of English Rural Life, also known as The MERL, is a museum, library and archive dedicated to recording the changing face of farming and the countryside in England. The museum is run by the University of Reading, and is situated in Red ...

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, which came with a part-time lectureship at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

(which housed the museum). In 1960, he returned to Wales as Assistant Keeper of the Welsh Folk Museum at

St Fagans St Fagans ( ; ) is a village and Community (Wales), community in the west of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is home to the St Fagans National History Museum. History The name of the area invokes Saint Fagan (Saint), Fagan, according ...

, and nine years later he secured promotion as Keeper of Material Culture. He then moved in 1977 to the Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, to be closer to the sea and his interest in maritime history; he regarded the decade he spent there as the happiest of his career. In 1981, the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

conferred on him a

doctor of science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

degree. But his move back to St Fagans and the Folk Museum in 1987 to be its Curator was less happy, owing in part to clashes with management and what Jenkins regarded as English interference. He retired early in 1992, and moved to

Penbryn Penbryn () is a small coastal village and Community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales, about from Cardigan, Ceredigion, Cardigan. History Corbalengi Stone Standing in a field between Penbryn and Tresaith (grid reference SN28905137) is ...

. He was the High Sheriff of Dyfed in 1994–95 and joined

Ceredigion County Council Ceredigion County Council () is the governing body for the county of Ceredigion, since 1996 one of the unitary authorities of Wales. The council's main offices are in Aberaeron. History The current council was created on 1 April 1996 under t ...

, serving as its Chairman in 2002–03.Meic Stephens
J. Geraint Jenkins: Maritime historian and authority on rural crafts"
''The Independent'', 24 September 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2018.David Jenkins
"Dr J. Geraint Jenkins, 1929-2009"
''National Museum of Wales'', 28 August 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2018. Jenkins died on 15 August 2009, leaving a widow, Nansi, and two sons; another son, had died in 2000. According to his obituary in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', "Geraint Jenkins played a leading role in the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of Wales. He published more than 50 books, many to do with the seafaring traditions of west Wales, and was an acknowledged authority on the subject. He also made expert studies of other aspects of Welsh folk life, including traditional farm implements, rural crafts, the woollen industry and Cardiff ship-owners."

Selected works

* ''The English Farm Wagon'' (1961) * ''The Welsh Woollen Industry'' (1969) * ''Crefftwyr Gwlad'' 'Country Craftsmen''(1971) * ''Nets and Coracles'' (1974) * ''Life and Tradition in Rural Wales'' (1976) * ''The Inshore Fishermen of Wales'' (1991) * ''Traddodiad y Môr'' 'The Maritime Tradition''(2004) * ''Welsh Ships and Sailing Men'' (2005) * ''Ar Lan Hen Afon'' 'On the Bank of an Old River''(2005) * ''Y Cwrwgl'' 'The Coracle''(2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, J. Geraint 1929 births 2009 deaths People from Ceredigion Historians of Wales 20th-century Welsh historians Alumni of Aberystwyth University