Richard Jukes
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Rev. Richard Jukes (1804–1867) was a popular Primitive Methodist minister and hymn writer. This article provides a brief biography, and a summary of his work as a popular minister and hymn writer during the first half-century of
Primitive Methodism The Primitive Methodist Church is a Christian denomination within the holiness movement. Originating in early 19th-century England as a revivalist movement within Methodism, it was heavily influenced by American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–18 ...
.


Biography

Richard Jukes was born on 9 October 1804 at
Goathill Goathill is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in England, situated in northern Dorset, a couple of miles east of the town of Sherborne. It lies very close to the county boundary however, and for much of its history (until 1896) ...
, and died 10 August 1869. He served as a Primitive Methodist minister from 1827 to 1859. Jukes married Phoebe Pardoe in 1825, and later, widowed, he married Charlotte.


Circuits

*1827 – Hopton Bank *1828 – Brinkworth *1829 – Brinkworth (6 months) *1829 –
Motcombe Motcombe is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England. It lies about north of Shaftesbury. It is sited on Kimmeridge clay soil beneath hills at the edge of the Blackmore Vale. The parish is one of the largest in Dorset. In the 2011 ...
(6 months) *1830 –
Pillowell Pillowell is a small English village in Gloucestershire, on the south-eastern edge of the Forest of Dean. Once a mining village, much of it now lies in a conservation area. Description Pillowell's coordinates are 51.75° N 02.55° W. It rose to ...
*1831 –
Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...
*1832 –
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
*1833 –
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
*1834 –
Ramsor The tiny hamlet of Ramsor (Methodist spelling) in North Staffordshire played a significant part in the origins of Primitive Methodism. Listed in the Domesday Book as Ramshorn, this ancient hamlet is a typical example of the depopulation of the ...
*1838 –
Darlaston Darlaston is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is located near Bilston, Walsall, Wednesbury, Willenhall and Tipton. It was historically part of Staffordshire. Topography Darlaston i ...
*1842 – Tunstall *1845 –
Congleton Congleton is a market town and civil parish in Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is on the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 28,497 and the built-up area ha ...
*1846 –
Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...
*1849 – Darlaston *1851 –
Brierley Hill Brierley Hill is a town and Ward (electoral subdivision), electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands (county), West Midlands (originally in Staffordshire), England. It is located south of Dudley and north of Stourbr ...
*1853 –
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
*1855 –
West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...
*1859 – West Bromwich (retired)


Work as a minister

While Richard Jukes left his mark in Kendall's history as a hymn writer, his work as a minister was widely appreciated. It is noteworthy that, after a number of appointments where he would have been the junior, Jukes was appointed to three of the most significant Circuits of that time.
Tunstall, Staffordshire Tunstall is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, Engl ...
was the place of origin of
Primitive Methodism The Primitive Methodist Church is a Christian denomination within the holiness movement. Originating in early 19th-century England as a revivalist movement within Methodism, it was heavily influenced by American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–18 ...
and
Ramsor The tiny hamlet of Ramsor (Methodist spelling) in North Staffordshire played a significant part in the origins of Primitive Methodism. Listed in the Domesday Book as Ramshorn, this ancient hamlet is a typical example of the depopulation of the ...
had been almost as significant.
Darlaston Darlaston is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is located near Bilston, Walsall, Wednesbury, Willenhall and Tipton. It was historically part of Staffordshire. Topography Darlaston i ...
was very much the leading light in the
Black Country The Black Country is an area of England's West Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley and Sandwell metropolitan boroughs, with the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The road between Wolverhampto ...
. Jukes spent a large part of his active ministry in
The Black Country The Black Country is an area of England's West Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley and Sandwell metropolitan boroughs, with the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The road between Wolverhampto ...
and retired there.
Hugh Bourne Hugh Bourne (3 April 1772 – 11 October 1852) along with William Clowes was the joint founder of Primitive Methodism, the largest offshoot of Wesleyan Methodism and, in the mid-19th century, an influential Protestant Christian movement in its o ...
reveals a special interest in Ramsor in his writings in The Primitive Methodist Magazine, through the way he illustrates articles with anecdotes of Ramsor people.


Hymns

Holliday Bickerstaffe Kendall Holliday Bickerstaff(e) Kendall (2 August 1844 – 10 March 1919), was a Primitive Methodist Minister, President of the Conference (1901).Leary, W. "Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits", (1990), p. 121, hb or sb E ...
says of Richard Jukes, “although he was a prolific and popular hymn-writer of his day, is in some danger of being forgotten.” The major biography of Jukes has the title "Poet of a Million", reflecting this claim to fame. Kendall also says, “Jukes’ hymns have been sung from one end of the Connexion to the other, by tramps in the street and Christians in the chapels; and the late Dr. Massie says, the hymn entitled “What’s the news,” &co., has been sung and repeated in the great Revival in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
.”


Hymn tunes

Part of the genius of Richard Jukes the hymn writer was his ability (shared with other Primitive Methodists including Henry Higginson ) to use the best popular melodies of his time. A contemporary account by a Jonathan Ireland in
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
will be useful to researchers into 19th-century hymns.
Before the Primitive Methodists came to this city (
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
), and for some time after, it was very common to hear lewd or ribald songs sung in the streets, especially on the Lord’s day. But our movements drove them away by putting something better in their place. We used to pick up the most effective tunes we heard, and put them to our hymns; and at our camp meetings people, chiefly young ones, used to run up to hear us, thinking we were singing a favourite song. But they were disappointed therein; nevertheless, they were arrested and often charmed by the hymn, which at times went with power to their hearts. And so the words of the hymn put aside the words of the song. It will show the utility of singing lively hymns in the streets; yea, more particularly, it will show the use to society in general of our hymn singing in the streets, if I here relate a fact which was told me by a friend on whose veracity and accuracy I can place reliance. He said : “I was one day in a hair-dresser’s shop in a country village, when a man came in to be shaved, having a handful of printed hymns, which he had been singing and selling in the streets. I entered into conversation with him, in course of which he said : “Your Jukes has been a good friend to us street-singers; I have sung lots of his hymns, and made many a bright shilling thereby. People generally would rather hear a nice hymn sung, than a foolish song, – and his hymns are full of sympathy and life. Depend on it, the singing of hymns in the streets has done a good deal of good; for children stand to listen to us, and they get hold of a few lines, or of the chorus; and with the tune, or as much of it as they can think of, they run home, and for days they sing it in their homes, and their mothers and sisters get hold of it, and in this way, I maintain, our hymn-singing is of more use than many folks think. I shall always think well of Jukes,” concluded the man.


The hymn "Christ for me"

Much of Jukes’ output seems to have been published in special collections. Unfortunately, his writing was not used in many hymn books, and the only hymn to have survived in common use is “Christ for me”. Even this was not used in the 1882 Primitive Methodist Hymnal, but only in the 1911 Supplement. As an example of Jukes' hymns, here is the version used in the 1911 Supplement. Other verses have been sung. My heart is fixed eternal God,
Fixed on Thee : Fixed on Thee :
And my immortal choice is made :
Christ for me.
He is my Prophet, Priest and King,
Who did for me salvation bring;
And while I’ve breath I mean to sing :
Christ for me. Christ for me.

2 In Him I see the Godhead shine;
Christ for me. Christ for me.
He is the Majesty Divine;
Christ for me.
The Father’s well-beloved Son,
Co-partner of His royal throne,
Who did for human guilt atone;
Christ for me. Christ for me.

3 Let others boast their heaps of gold;
Christ for me. Christ for me.
His riches never can be told;
Christ for me.
Your gold will waste and wear away,
Your honours perish in a day;
My portion never can decay;
Christ for me. Christ for me.

4 In pining sickness or in health,
Christ for me. Christ for me.
In deepest poverty or wealth,
Christ for me.
And in that all-important day,
When I the summons must obey,
And pass from this dark world away,
Christ for me. Christ for me. ''R. Jukes''"Primitive Methodist Hymnal with Supplement", 1882 and 1911. Hymn No. 114 in the Supplement.


References


Notes

# Very few copies have survived, one being at the library of the Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum of Primitive Methodism. # Kendall (''op. cit.'') writes, “One evening, when the eccentric Henry Higginson was on his way to a tea meeting at
Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...
, he heard a lad singing a song which attracted him. “Here, my lad, sing that again and I’ll give thee a penny.” The lad did as he was told, more than once. “Here you are, my man,” said Higginson, throwing him the penny; “I’ve got the tune and the devil may take the words.”


External links


Englesea Brook Museum of Primitive Methodism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jukes, Richard 1804 births 1867 deaths English Methodists