Alfred Kenneth Hamilton Jenkin (29 October 1900 – 20 August 1980) was a Cornish bard
and historian with a particular interest in
Cornish mining, publishing ''The Cornish Miner'', now a classic, in 1927.
Birth and education
He was born in
Redruth
Redruth ( , ) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the 2011 census, the population of Redruth was 14,018 In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, ...
on 29 October 1900, the son of Alfred Hamilton Jenkin, and his wife, Amy Louisa Keep. He attended
University College, Oxford, where in 1919 he became a friend of the famous author,
C.S. Lewis: both were members of the Martlets Literary Society. He graduated as M.A. and B.Litt. at the University of Oxford.
Cornish activities
Jenkin was a founder
bard of the
Gorseth Kernow in 1928, taking the
bardic name
A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement.
The Welsh language, Welsh term bardd ('poet') originally referred to the Welsh poets of the M ...
''Lef Stenoryon'' ('Voice of the Tinners').
He was involved in persuading
Cornwall County Council to set up
Cornwall Record Office in the 1950s, and served on its committee until his death.
[Brooke, Justin (2004]
‘Jenkin, (Alfred) Kenneth Hamilton (1900–1980)’
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...
'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 26 March 2008. In 1959 he was elected President of the
Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, a position he also held in 1960 and in 1962 he became its first life President.
He was elected President of the
Royal Institution of Cornwall for the years 1958, 1959 and was vice-president in 1977.
Recognition as a historian
In 1954 he was elected a Fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries and was awarded his honorary degree of
Doctor of Letters by the
University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...
in 1978.
Personal life
He married Luned Marion Jacobs (2nd daughter of
W. W. Jacobs, the famous humourist) and had two daughters: Jennifer Hamilton Jenkin and Honor Bronwen Jenkin. The marriage ended in divorce and his second marriage was to Elizabeth Lenton.
Death
He died 20 August 1980 at
Treliske Hospital, Truro
Publications
*"Boulton and Watt in Cornwall" in ''
Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society
The Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society (commonly known as The Poly) is an educational, cultural and scientific Charitable organization#United Kingdom, charity, as well as a local arts and cinema venue, based in Falmouth, Cornwall, England, Unite ...
Annual Report, 1926''
* ''The Cornish Miner: an Account of his Life Above and Underground from Early Times''. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1927: three editions, including 3rd edition, 1962 (reprinted by David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1972 ; reprinted in facsimile with an introduction by John H. Trounson, Launceston: Westcountry, 2004 )
*"The Nationalisation of West-Country Minerals". (New Fabian Research Bureau. Publications series; no. 3) 17 pages.
ondon, 1932* ''Cornish Seafarers: the Smuggling, Wrecking and Fishing Life of Cornwall''. London: J. M. Dent, 1932
* ''Cornwall and Its People: being a new impression of the composite work ...''. London: J. M. Dent, 1945 (reprinted 1970 by David & Charles, Newton Abbot ) including:
**"Cornish Seafarers", 1932
**"Cornwall and the Cornish: the story, religion and folk-lore of ’The Western Land’", 1933
**"Cornish homes and customs", 1934
*''Cornwall and the Cornish: the story, religion and folk-lore of ’The Western Land’'', London: J. Dent, 1933
*''Cornish Homes and Customs''. London: J. M. Dent, 1934
* ''The Story of Cornwall''. London: Thomas Nelson, 1934 (reprinted by D. Bradford Barton, Truro, 1962)
* ''The Western Land''. London: Great Western Railway, 1937
* ''News from Cornwall''. London: Westaway Books, 1946
* ''News from Cornwall'', edited, with a memoir of William Jenkin, by A. K. Hamilton Jenkin. 1951
* ''Mines and Miners of Cornwall'' in 16 volumes, vols. 1–14 originally published by the Truro Bookshop, 1961 onwards and reprinted by various organisations:
** ''Pt. I. Around St. Ives''
** ''Pt. II. St. Agnes, Perranporth''
** ''Pt. III. Around Redruth''
** ''Pt. IV. Penzance-Mount's Bay''
** ''Pt. V. Hayle, Gwinear and Gwithian''
** ''Pt. VI. Around Gwennap''
** ''Pt. VII. Perranporth-Newquay''
** ''Pt. VIII. Truro to the clay district''
** ''Pt. IX. Padstow, St Columb and Bodmin''
** ''Pt. X. Camborne and Illogan''
** ''Pt. XI. Marazion, St Hilary and Breage''
** ''Pt. XII. Liskeard area''
** ''Pt. XIII. The Lizard-Falmouth-Mevagissey''
** ''Pt. XIV. St Austell to Saltash''
** ''Pt. XV. Calstock, Callington and Launceston'' Penzance: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1969 (reprinted Bracknell: Forge Books, 1976)
** ''Pt. XVI. Wadebridge, Camelford and Bude'' Penzance: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1970
** ''Index to Mines and Miners of Cornwall: Volumes 1–16''. St. Austell: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1978
* ''Mines of Devon''. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1974
**Volume 1: South Devon
**Volume 2: Mines of Devon, north and east of Dartmoor: Sydenham Damerel, Lydford, Wheal Betsy, Wheal Friendship, Okehampton, Sticklepath, Chagford, Buckfastleigh, Ashburton, Ilsington, Teign Valley, Newton St. Cyres, and Upton Pyne. (Reprinted by Devon Libraries 1981 )
**Both volumes reprinted by Landmark, 2005
* ''Wendron Tin'' (commissioned by
Poldark Mine), 1978
References
* Obituary in ''Old Cornwall.'' Vol IX, No 4, Spring, 1981.
*
ODNB Article by Justin Brooke, 'Jenkin, (Alfred) Kenneth Hamilton (1900–1980)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 26 March 2008.
External links
*
* A list of personal names of miners and other people mentioned in the series "Mines and Miners of Cornwall", has been compiled by Michael Messenger, and can be found at http://www.twelveheads.com/mjm/mmcnames.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton Jenkin, A. K.
1900 births
1980 deaths
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Bards of Gorsedh Kernow
British antiquarians
Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
People from Redruth
History of mining in the United Kingdom
Mining in Cornwall
Historians of Cornwall
Writers from Cornwall
20th-century English historians
20th-century antiquarians