
John Jebb (7 September 1775 – 9 December 1833) was an
Irish churchman and
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...
.
Biography
John Jebb was born in
Drogheda
Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...
, younger son of John Jebb senior, an
alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...
of the town of Drogheda, and his second wife Alicia Forster.
[Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' London John Murray 1926 Vol, 2 p.340] His father had an estate at
Leixlip
Leixlip ( or ; , ) is a town in north-east County Kildare, Ireland. Its location on the confluence of the River Liffey and the Rye Water has marked it as a frontier town historically: on the border between the ancient kingdoms of Leinster and ...
in
County Kildare
County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...
: his grandfather Richard Jebb had come to Ireland from
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
.
[ His father was in reduced financial circumstances for a time, but later recovered his fortunes, and at his death in 1796 he left John £2000
] He was educated at the local school in Celbridge
Celbridge (; ) is a town and townland on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is west of Dublin. Both a local centre and a commuter town within the Greater Dublin Area, it is located at the intersection of the ...
, then at Free Grammar School, Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...
where he formed a lifelong friendship with the theologian Alexander Knox
Alexander Knox (16 January 1907 – 25 April 1995) was a Canadian actor and writer. He appeared in over 100 film, television, and theatrical productions over a career spanning from the 1920s until the late 1980s. He was nominated for an Oscar ...
, and at Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
.[
Ordained in 1799, he became curate of ]Swanlinbar
Swanlinbar () is a small village on the N87 national secondary road in north-west County Cavan, Ireland, close to the Cladagh river and near the Fermanagh border.
The village is situated in the townlands of Furnaceland and Hawkswood, in th ...
, County Cavan
County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...
; and in 1801 of Mogorbane, County Tipperary
County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...
. In 1805 he became private chaplain to Charles Brodrick, Archbishop of Cashel
The Archbishop of Cashel () was an archiepiscopal title which took its name after the town of Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland. Following the Reformation, there had been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church ...
, and in 1809 he became rector of Abingdon, County Limerick
County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...
, where his curate
A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...
was Charles Forster, his lifelong friend and first biographer. He spent some time in England, where he became a friend of William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780 ...
and of Hannah More
Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet, and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at ...
. In 1812 he was seriously injured in a carriage accident; the injuries were poorly treated by his medical advisers, and he probably never fully recovered his health.[
In 1821 he became archdeacon of Emly. For his services in maintaining order in the district of Emly during the disturbances that followed the outbreak of ]famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...
in the west of Ireland in 1822, he was made Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe
The Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe was the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, which was in the Ecclesiastical province, Province of Archbishop of Cashel, Cashel until 1833, the ...
in that year.[ As bishop, he is credited with raising the academic standard for candidates for ]holy orders
In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...
: he often quoted an old saying that candidates might deceive him about their Godliness, but not about their scholarship.[
In 1827 he had a ]stroke
Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
, which left him largely incapacitated physically, and afterwards, he spent his time in various places in England, devoting himself to writing, in particular the celebrated correspondence with his friend Alexander Knox, for which he is chiefly remembered. He favoured the High Church
A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...
approach to ritual and is regarded as a forerunner of the Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Un ...
. He died unmarried in East Hill, near Wandsworth
Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
Toponymy
Wandsworth takes its name ...
, Surrey. He was remembered as a man of great learning, and a churchman of strong convictions and broad sympathies.[ His close friend Charles Forster, the grandfather of novelist ]E. M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author. He is best known for his novels, particularly '' A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910) and '' A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous shor ...
, published his ''Life of John Jebb'' in 1836.
Richard Jebb, justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland)
The Court of King's Bench (of Queen's Bench when the sovereign was female, and formerly of Chief Place or Chief Pleas) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The King's Ben ...
(1766-1834) was his elder brother, and a deep affection existed between the two.[ Richard was the father of John Jebb (1805-1886), canon in residence of ]Hereford Cathedral
Hereford Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Hereford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Hereford and the principal church of the diocese of Hereford. The cathedral is a grade I listed building.
A place of wors ...
.[
In character Bishop Jebb was described as a man of great generosity, candour and integrity, modest and unassuming, naturally shy and reserved in manner, but with a keen sense of humour.][Forster ''" The life of John Jebb"''.]
Works
*
Sermons
' (London, 1815)
*
Sacred Literature
' (1820)
*
Practical Theology
' (2 vols., 1830)
*''Biographical Memoir of William Phelan'' (1832)
*His correspondence with Alexander Knox
Alexander Knox (16 January 1907 – 25 April 1995) was a Canadian actor and writer. He appeared in over 100 film, television, and theatrical productions over a career spanning from the 1920s until the late 1980s. He was nominated for an Oscar ...
was edited by C. Forster (2 vols., 1834).
*
Piety without asceticism, or, The Protestant Kempis
' (1846)
References
Bibliography
* Cross, F. L. (ed.) (1957) The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford: U. P.; pp. 716–17
* Mozley, Anne (ed.) ''Letters of J. H. Newman'', i. 440, 470, ib. 1890
* DNB, xxix, 259–261
External links
Bibliographic directory
from Project Canterbury
Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jebb, John
1775 births
1833 deaths
Fellows of the Royal Society
People educated at Foyle College
Archdeacons of Emly
Bishops of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe
People from Drogheda
Christian clergy from County Louth