Tom Jenkins (also known as Thomas Joseph Jenkins, and Black Tom; c. 1797 – 1859) was Britain's first

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Early life

Jenkins was the son of a native chief, according to an 1818 letter. Born along the

Guinea coast Guinea is a traditional name for the region of the coast of West Africa which lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It is a naturally moist tropical forest or savanna that stretches along the coast and borders the Sahel belt in the north. Etymology ...

, he was possibly the son of a slave-trading chief 'King Cock-eye'. As an infant (also reported as aged 6), Jenkins traveled with Scottish

sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficient operation of the ship, inc ...

James Swanson to Britain, leaving Africa in January 1803 and arriving in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in May of the same year before traveling to the Scottish Borders town of

Hawick Hawick ( ; ; ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area and counties of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east o ...

. Swanson was a resident of Hawick. After Swanson's death from illness in September 1803, Jenkins lived with Swanson's relatives in the area. It is suggested alternatively that his name 'Tom Jenkins' was his attempt as a child on the 1803 voyage to pronounce the name of his sponsor Swanson, or a variant of his African title. After Hawick, Jenkins moved to near

Teviothead Teviothead () is a small village and civil parish in Teviotdale in the Scottish Borders, known locally as ''Teviotheid''. It is located south of the River Teviot. The Border hero Johnnie Armstrong and his men were taken prisoner and executed ...

, learning English and the local dialect. Excelling at school, and a good dancer, he became a labourer.

Teaching profession

At the age of 20, Jenkins became the schoolmaster at Teviothead; the appointment not approved by the Presbytery. In response, a blacksmith's building was converted into an independent school by the

Duke of Buccleuch Duke of Buccleuch ( ), formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created twice on 20 April 1663, first for James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, and second ''suo jure'' for his wife Anne Scott, 4th Countess of ...

and others from 1815 to December 1818. Continuing his education including studying Greek and Latin languages, Jenkins was later tutored by Christopher Armstrong (d. 1820), school master of the Hawick Parish Church, to help prepare for entry to the

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. Although he was only there for a month or two, he resumed teaching at Teviothead before being approached by the Christian Knowledge Society to become a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

. As an adult, he travelled to Borough Road, London in 1818 where he trained and worked as a teacher at the

British and Foreign School Society The British and Foreign School Society (BFSS) was founded in the early 19th century to support free and non-denominational British Schools in England and Wales. These schools competed with the National schools run by the National Society for Promo ...

. Jenkins' time included teaching in schools at Pimlico and Fitzrovia. He graduated in January 1821 and travelled to

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

as a teacher. By 1823, he was chosen to lead the newly established free Government "Model School" in

Port Louis Port Louis (, ; or , ) is the capital and most populous city of Mauritius, mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's financial and political centre. It is admi ...

. For the next 37 years he introduced some new teaching methods including singing lessons, and speaking of the

creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable form of contact language that develops from the process of different languages simplifying and mixing into a new form (often a pidgin), and then that form expanding and elaborating into a full-fl ...

Later life

He served the remainder of his teaching career in Mauritius and died on 16 June 1859, leaving a widow, Augustine Laurencia Jenkins, and four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkin, Tom (Teacher) Scottish schoolteachers 1790s births 1859 deaths People from Hawick Immigrants to the United Kingdom British Mauritius people Mauritian schoolteachers