John Jenkins (known also as Ifor Ceri) (8 April 1770 – 20 November 1829) was a Welsh priest in the

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, ...

and an antiquarian. He played a leading role in the establishment of

eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

au in Wales in the nineteenth century.

Life

Jenkins, who was born in a farmhouse in Llangoedmor in

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 ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, on 8 April 1770, studied at the school in Llangoedmor and Carmarthen Academy before obtaining a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1793. He was initially a member of

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

before transferring to

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor ...

. He was ordained in 1793 and his first post was at

Whippingham Whippingham is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 787. It is located south of East Cowes in the north of the Island. Whippingham is best known for its connections ...

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 ...

, where he acted as

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 ...

to the rector, who was his uncle. From 1799 onwards, he was chaplain of , then of , in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. After illness, he returned to Wales to become rector of

Manordeifi Manordeifi () is a parish and community (Wales), community in the hundred of Cilgerran Hundred, Cilgerran, in the northeast corner of Pembrokeshire, Wales. The population of the community in 2001 was 478. It has an elected community council and ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

, before Thomas Burgess (the

Bishop of St David's The Bishop of St Davids is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the city of St Davids in ...

) appointed him as

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

Ceri Ceri () is a hamlet (''frazione'') of the ''comune'' of Cerveteri, in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio (central Italy). It occupies a fortified plateau of tuff at a short distance from the city of Cerveteri. History Inhabited before the 7 ...

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire ( ) was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, Powys, Montgomery, which in turn was named after ...

in 1807. The name of the village gave him the name by which he was known as an antiquarian, Ifor Ceri. ("Ifor" was after Ifor ap Llywelyn, patron of the medieval Welsh poet

Dafydd ap Gwilym Dafydd ap Gwilym ( 1315/1320 – 1350/1370) is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and among the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. Dafydd’s poetry also offers a unique window into the transcultural movement of cultural pract ...

– Jenkins was very hospitable towards poets and musicians at his house in Ceri.) On one visit in 1818, Thomas Burgess and Jenkins decided "to rekindle the bardic skill and ingenuity of the principality ... by holding

au in different places in the four provinces". Jenkins carried on directing eisteddfodau until 1829 when he decided that the English influence was too strong. His work paved the way for the

National Eisteddfod The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

s beginning later in the century. He also collected folk songs, hymn tunes and psalm tunes, and wrote local histories and other articles, some in Welsh. He helped to reform the

Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (), often called simply the Cymmrodorion, is a London-based Wales, Welsh learned society, with membership open to all. It was first established in 1751 as a Social club, social, cultural, literary society, l ...

. Jenkins died in Ceri on 20 November 1829.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, John 1770 births 1829 deaths 19th-century Welsh Anglican priests Welsh antiquarians Royal Navy chaplains Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Alumni of Merton College, Oxford