JENKINS, JOHN (1656? - 1733), Baptist minister
Date of birth: 1656?
Date of death: 1733
Child: Jennett Richards (née Jenkins)
Child: Evan Jenkins
Gender: Male
Occupation: Baptist minister
Area of activity: Religion
Author: Benjamin George Owens
He is said to have been born in the parish of Cilymaenllwyd in 1656, and is described as a wayward youth. He is also said to have been baptized in 1677, but the only person of this name whose baptism is recorded in the Rhydwilym register for this year (12 May) hailed from Spittal. His name appears among the eleven ministers attached to Rhydwilym in 1689, and with the turn of the century he became the acknowledged leader of the church. He acquired much prominence as the result of his disputation on the question of baptism with John Thomas (fl. 1689-1710), Congregational minister, of Llwyn-y-grawys, Llangoedmor, in 1691, and became involved in a serious split in his church around 1724-6. It is said that he, in 1718, was the first to receive assistance from the Baptist Fund. He died 3 July 1733, at the age of 77, and was buried at Rhydwilym. His brother David was elder at Rhydwilym, and it is believed that the Evan who is entered with them under Cilymaenllwyd in the Rhydwilym register in 1689 was another brother. There is a reference also to his daughter Jennett Richards, and much is known of his son Evan Jenkins and of his grandson Joseph Jenkins, who were both ministers of the Old Meeting, Wrexham.
A volume of sermons in his hand was formerly in the possession of William Herbert, minister of Maesyberllan, and of Joshua Thomas, Leominster.
Author
- Benjamin George Owens
- Rhydwilym Church Register at the National Library of Wales in N.L.W.
- Joshua Thomas, Hanes y Bedyddwyr ymhlith y Cymry: o amser yr Apostolion, hyd y flwyddyn hon: yn ddwy ran (Caerfyrddin 1778)
- Hanes y Bedyddwyr yn Nghymru
- W. Rowlands, Cambrian Bibliography (Llanidloes 1869)
- Hanes llenyddiaeth Gymreig o 1651 O.C. hyd 1850 (1893)
- Geirlyfr Bywgraffiadol o Enwogion Cymru (1870)
- J. E. Lloyd (ed.), A History of Carmarthenshire, ii, 901
- A. N. Palmer, A history of the older nonconformity of Wrexham and its neighbourhood being the third part of 'A history of the town and parish of Wrexham' (1888)
Sources
- Wikidata: Q20733475
Additional Links
Published date: 1959
Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
The Dictionary of Welsh Biography is provided by The National Library of Wales and the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. It is free to use and does not receive grant support. A donation would help us maintain and improve the site so that we can continue to acknowledge Welsh men and women who have made notable contributions to life in Wales and beyond.
Find out more on our sponsorship page.