Dennis Williams
Gone but not forgotten
Re: Some great men of Birmingham..
There is a deal of information and some really scholarly stuff elsewhere on the Forum about this family but I thought the other key family members also deserved a mention, and perhaps a new airing for those newcomers to our Group might be appreciated. Hope the old hands won’t mind.
John Jennens, a Yorkshireman by birth, is probably remembered now more by the eponymous Road names – Jennens Row and Jennens Road - than for his many achievements. But he and his family contributed so much to Brum’s history and development, admittedly whilst making them tidily rich in the process.
John Jennens originally made his money out of ironmongery, but on his death in 1651, his son Humphrey, turned to more profitable iron-making with furnaces at Bromford, near his home at Erdington Hall; at Aston (cf Furnace Lane; at Furnace End (beyond Shustoke towards Atherstone and Nuneaton); and elsewhere.
The Aston Brook mills were built to supply industrial power from the start. Work Mill (Aston Brook Mill and other names) was engaged in cloth-fulling by 1532, and Aston Furnace began operations in 1615, its bellows worked by water. John Jennens of Erdington Hall owned the Furnace and another at Bromford, producing 400 tons of pig iron annually from the two. After a hundred and fifty years of dumping the spoil bank between tailrace and brook was half the size of the pool. (Some of the clinker was used by Richard Ford to build 'Hockley Abbey', a folly ruin, about 1780). Spooner and Wright, at the Furnace, were using a Newcomen engine after 1768, because the brook's supply was inadequate. Matthew Boulton was having the same trouble at Soho Works upstream: at both sites steam power was used to pump water back to the headpool for continued re-use by the wheels. The Furnace was blown out in 1783. A steam-powered papermill was at work on the site in 1833, and for about five years from 1845 the premises were used for wire-drawing. By 1865 the firm had moved to new buildings in Alma Street, still called 'Aston Furnace Mills'. The old works had been demolished by 1887: they had stood at the dip on Porchester Street. Crocodile Works now occupies the millsite.
Aston Brook Mill stood just above the Lichfield Road ford, south of Phillips Street. The Expressway now cuts right through its site. It was a fulling mill in 1532 and 1585. On Beighton's map of 1725 it is called Bourn Work Mill. In 1758 it was Gisbourn's and in 1791 Hooper's Mill. At about that time it may have reverted to corn-grinding when the shortage of waterpower locally for that purpose made it profitable. Water was very scarce: fifty-odd mills were hoarding it within the area of the modern City. By 1830 waterpower had perforce been supplemented. Bourn Mill was steam-powered for timber cutting and turning, while still using its waterwheels for corn. A disastrous fire in 1862 brought its working life to an end, and the buildings were demolished when local streets were built. Steel's Mill, shown as 'Blade Mill' by Beighton, was fed by a leat from the brook. No pool is marked on the 1758 map, and though little power was needed for edging blades and tools there was probably too little even for that without a reserve. In the 1780s the Fazeley Canal cut across its site, which today would be at the Wharf Street/ Wainwright Street corner. No windmills have been mapped in Aston. If one existed, the obvious site would be on the summit south of the Hall.
The extended family lived in Erdington Hall, and this has also featured in other sites, but Humphrey Jennens also had a Queen Anne mansion in High Street, the site of the old Co-operative Society Store, plus other sizeable investments in real estate in other parts of Birmingham. His original house is featured in the Alleyways thread, and was in High Street at the back of Court House Yard. Where The Pavilions shopping Centre is now.
Charles Jennens
This is the Artist rather than the artisan, and a most fascinating character.
Charles Jennens (1747) by Thomas Hudson. Seen in the year in which his father died.
Humphrey's son Charles was an even richer beneficiary of his family’s labours, and with this came the almost obligatory eccentricity for the period. Known as ‘Suleyman the Magnificent’ by his neighbours, he normally travelled in a gilded coach and four, with four footmen (obviously). Bit like Elton John, or perhaps more likely, Bernie Taupin, because in spite of his eccentricity, he was a genius of a librettist (he wrote the words).
With his inheritance he built a monumental stately pile called Gopsall Hall in Twycross, Leicestershire, spending 80k on the grounds alone. Millions in those days. There, his protégé and friend Georges Frederick Handel no less is reputed to have written parts of his immortal Messiah. Charles Jennens wrote the lyrics.
Yes. A Brummie wrote part of the Messiah. Consider this note in the records dated 9 September 1742
"Handel explains that he had intended a visit to Jennens on his way from Ireland to London in order to give a verbal account of "how well Your Messiah was received", instead however, Handel enclosed a written account of the oratorio by "no less than the Bishop of Elphim (A Nobleman very learned in musick)". Handel promises to "send the printed Book of the Messiah to Mr Sted" on behalf of Jennens. Handel reserves the account of his successes in Ireland until he meets Jennens in London, however he does state that the notion that "the Direction of the Opera next winter is committed to his care, is groundless". Handel professes that he is not sure if he will continue with Oratorios, except that in Ireland a large subscription is already planned for that purpose in 12 months time.
Charles was also a close friend of the Young Pretender (Bonnie Prince Charlie) and was godfather to Charles Finch, a son of Heneage third Earl of Aylesford, and left him 5,000 pounds when he died a batchelor on 22nd November 1773, aged 75, to be buried in Nether Whitacre, a really lovely part of North Warwickshire still.
The libretto was compiled by Charles Jennens and consists of verses mostly from the King James Bible, the selections from the book of Psalms being from the Great Bible, the version contained in the Book of Common Prayer. Jennens conceived of the work as an oratorio in three parts, which he described as "Part One: The prophesy and realization of God's plan to redeem mankind by the coming of the Messiah. Part Two: The accomplishment of redemption by the sacrifice of Jesus, mankind's rejection of God's offer, and mankind's utter defeat when trying to oppose the power of the Almighty. Part Three: A Hymn of Thanksgiving for the final overthrow of Death"
I was quite gobsmacked when I discovered this
In addition to his musical achievements, Charles Jennens towards the end of his life began to edit a new edition of Shakespeare's plays. Five volumes were published in the period 1770-1774. Unfortunately these attracted the unfavourable attention of the renowned Shakespearean scholar George Steevens (1736-1800), whose withering criticism of Jennens coloured scholarly opinion for many years. Only relatively recently has Jennens's reputation been rehabilitated, by such scholars as Dr Ruth Smith (born 1947) of Cambridge University. Dr Smith is the author of the current Charles Jennens biography in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
And then there's the link with Charles Dickens.... The Jennens Inheritance saga is widely published in a variety of learned and not so learned tracts. Certainly, it is well accepted that given Charles Dickens' connections with Birmingham, it is quite probable that his Bleak House 'Jarndyce v Jarndyce' machinations were extensively modelled on the antics of the myriad of claimants for the Jennens fortunes. You ready for this? Take a deep breath and cancel the milk, this could take some time...
The story commenced upon the death of William Jennens, Charles' first cousin and evidently the richest commoner in England. Remember Charles died a batchelor.
William was a bit of a scruff bag and a miser by all accounts, despite being of such noble stock. His father Robert was an aide de camp of the Duke of Marlborough, and he moved to Acton PLace in Long Melford, Suffolk in 1708. William died in 1798 aged 98 and left no will. Naughty boy.
In the settlement of the estate the heir-at-law (inheritor of the real estate) was declared to be George Augustus William Curzon, a descendant of Robert Jennens' eldest sister Hester. His mother Sophia Charlotte Howe (Baroness Howe and Lady Curzon) took possession on behalf of her second son, Richard William Penn Curzon (1796-1870), who was created first Earl Howe in 1821. Earl Howe was later alleged to have been an illegitimate son of a spinster named Ann Oakes, substituted as the heir-at-law. This took care of the cash and land. Complicated?? You ain't heard nothing yet.
The personal property of William Jennings was divided between the living next-of-kin who were William Lygon, first Earl Beauchamp (1747-1816), a grandson of Hester Jennens, and Mary, Lady Andover, a granddaughter of Humphrey Jennens' daughter Ann. This might have been ok, but then enter Uncle Sam et al...
The claims of American descendants of William Jennings, uncle of intestate William Jennings, are based on the fact that children of the uncle were alive in America at the time of the intestate's death and should have been considered as next-of-kin with Lady Mary Andover and Earl Beauchamp. Furthermore, if the alleged illegitimacy of the first Earl Howe could be proven, the question of proper disposition of the realty would likewise entitle the American claimants to consideration. The matter is further complicated by the fact that parish church at Nether Whiteacre, eldest son of Humphrey Jennens, died unmarried, willing his real estate and his rights in entailed property to the heirs of his sister Hester. With me so far? No I can't be bothered either, but the sums at stake would be billions today, there was a lot of money in iron making!
Whatever, all of this convoluted story is commemorated in the names of local streets, Penn Street, Curzon Street, Howe Street, Gopsall Street, Jennens Row, and Andover Street to name a few.. so that's alright then. OK?
John Jennens land shown in Hill's Map of Brum 1553
His House in Court House Yard
Erdington Hall
Gopsall Hall
The Jennings family was of Danish extraction, and settled in England in the time of King Canute. Here is a poem about the wealth of the family. Very Kirk Douglas sounding....no idea who wrote it.
The Jennens’ Millions
“By the hammer of Thor! By the hammer of Thor!”
Cried Jennens the smith as he smote the ore,
“Devil or Christ, I care not, I,
Good red gold will I have or die.
Lust of the Viking strain of mine,
Good red gold and good red wine,
“By the hammer of Thor! By the hammer of Thor!”
The Devil flew in at the smithy door.
“O, Jennens, smith of the Viking strain,
‘Twere shame that thou called’st sat on my name in vain”
The Devil was lean, the Devil was fat,
Gave Jennens the smith small heed to that.
His horns were short, his horns were long,
Or fire shot forth from his eyes or tongue,
Knew Jennens no whit, nor his shape nor size;
His hammer he hurled at the Devil’s eyes.
The Devil flew, but the rede is told,
The hammer was straightway turned to gold,
Whate’er it smote, the legends say,
Was turned into red gold straightway.
Gold by the hammer’s shaping shown.
“The Devil’s own! “The Devil’s own!”
“Take me and serve!” “By the hammer. Yea!”
Laughed Jennens the smith in the Viking way,
“So the gold be good. A wondrous store
Of lands and of gold shall be mine therefore.”
Jennens the smith gat lands and gold,
And gat in his pride as the rede is told.
“By the hammer of Thor! By the hammer of Thor!”
“I’ll cozen the Devil himself,” he swore.
The hammer of gold-he hath graven the same,
“In the name of Christ.” In the holy name.
The Devil flew straight from the Devil’s mass,
The graven hammer he dared not pass.
Laughed Jennens the smith, “Now Christ I bless,
The gold and the lands shall be mine natheless.”
The Devil that raged spake soft with guile,
“The land and the gold shall be thine awhile.
“Thy children’s children shall rue it yet,
But never the curse on the gold shall let.
“Thy children’s children shall seek to hold
The baleful millions of phantom gold.
“Youth shall wither, and age shall pale,
And men shall laugh at the sorry tale.
“The lands shall grow and the millions swell,
And none shall have. It is writ in hell.
“Thy soul for the souls of thy sons I give!”
“Ho! Ho!” laughed the smith, so my sons shall live,
“And the gold be mine, I will get me more,
And their souls shall be thine, By the hammer of Thor!”
There is a deal of information and some really scholarly stuff elsewhere on the Forum about this family but I thought the other key family members also deserved a mention, and perhaps a new airing for those newcomers to our Group might be appreciated. Hope the old hands won’t mind.
John Jennens, a Yorkshireman by birth, is probably remembered now more by the eponymous Road names – Jennens Row and Jennens Road - than for his many achievements. But he and his family contributed so much to Brum’s history and development, admittedly whilst making them tidily rich in the process.
John Jennens originally made his money out of ironmongery, but on his death in 1651, his son Humphrey, turned to more profitable iron-making with furnaces at Bromford, near his home at Erdington Hall; at Aston (cf Furnace Lane; at Furnace End (beyond Shustoke towards Atherstone and Nuneaton); and elsewhere.
The Aston Brook mills were built to supply industrial power from the start. Work Mill (Aston Brook Mill and other names) was engaged in cloth-fulling by 1532, and Aston Furnace began operations in 1615, its bellows worked by water. John Jennens of Erdington Hall owned the Furnace and another at Bromford, producing 400 tons of pig iron annually from the two. After a hundred and fifty years of dumping the spoil bank between tailrace and brook was half the size of the pool. (Some of the clinker was used by Richard Ford to build 'Hockley Abbey', a folly ruin, about 1780). Spooner and Wright, at the Furnace, were using a Newcomen engine after 1768, because the brook's supply was inadequate. Matthew Boulton was having the same trouble at Soho Works upstream: at both sites steam power was used to pump water back to the headpool for continued re-use by the wheels. The Furnace was blown out in 1783. A steam-powered papermill was at work on the site in 1833, and for about five years from 1845 the premises were used for wire-drawing. By 1865 the firm had moved to new buildings in Alma Street, still called 'Aston Furnace Mills'. The old works had been demolished by 1887: they had stood at the dip on Porchester Street. Crocodile Works now occupies the millsite.
Aston Brook Mill stood just above the Lichfield Road ford, south of Phillips Street. The Expressway now cuts right through its site. It was a fulling mill in 1532 and 1585. On Beighton's map of 1725 it is called Bourn Work Mill. In 1758 it was Gisbourn's and in 1791 Hooper's Mill. At about that time it may have reverted to corn-grinding when the shortage of waterpower locally for that purpose made it profitable. Water was very scarce: fifty-odd mills were hoarding it within the area of the modern City. By 1830 waterpower had perforce been supplemented. Bourn Mill was steam-powered for timber cutting and turning, while still using its waterwheels for corn. A disastrous fire in 1862 brought its working life to an end, and the buildings were demolished when local streets were built. Steel's Mill, shown as 'Blade Mill' by Beighton, was fed by a leat from the brook. No pool is marked on the 1758 map, and though little power was needed for edging blades and tools there was probably too little even for that without a reserve. In the 1780s the Fazeley Canal cut across its site, which today would be at the Wharf Street/ Wainwright Street corner. No windmills have been mapped in Aston. If one existed, the obvious site would be on the summit south of the Hall.
The extended family lived in Erdington Hall, and this has also featured in other sites, but Humphrey Jennens also had a Queen Anne mansion in High Street, the site of the old Co-operative Society Store, plus other sizeable investments in real estate in other parts of Birmingham. His original house is featured in the Alleyways thread, and was in High Street at the back of Court House Yard. Where The Pavilions shopping Centre is now.
Charles Jennens
This is the Artist rather than the artisan, and a most fascinating character.
Charles Jennens (1747) by Thomas Hudson. Seen in the year in which his father died.
Humphrey's son Charles was an even richer beneficiary of his family’s labours, and with this came the almost obligatory eccentricity for the period. Known as ‘Suleyman the Magnificent’ by his neighbours, he normally travelled in a gilded coach and four, with four footmen (obviously). Bit like Elton John, or perhaps more likely, Bernie Taupin, because in spite of his eccentricity, he was a genius of a librettist (he wrote the words).
With his inheritance he built a monumental stately pile called Gopsall Hall in Twycross, Leicestershire, spending 80k on the grounds alone. Millions in those days. There, his protégé and friend Georges Frederick Handel no less is reputed to have written parts of his immortal Messiah. Charles Jennens wrote the lyrics.
Yes. A Brummie wrote part of the Messiah. Consider this note in the records dated 9 September 1742
"Handel explains that he had intended a visit to Jennens on his way from Ireland to London in order to give a verbal account of "how well Your Messiah was received", instead however, Handel enclosed a written account of the oratorio by "no less than the Bishop of Elphim (A Nobleman very learned in musick)". Handel promises to "send the printed Book of the Messiah to Mr Sted" on behalf of Jennens. Handel reserves the account of his successes in Ireland until he meets Jennens in London, however he does state that the notion that "the Direction of the Opera next winter is committed to his care, is groundless". Handel professes that he is not sure if he will continue with Oratorios, except that in Ireland a large subscription is already planned for that purpose in 12 months time.
Charles was also a close friend of the Young Pretender (Bonnie Prince Charlie) and was godfather to Charles Finch, a son of Heneage third Earl of Aylesford, and left him 5,000 pounds when he died a batchelor on 22nd November 1773, aged 75, to be buried in Nether Whitacre, a really lovely part of North Warwickshire still.
The libretto was compiled by Charles Jennens and consists of verses mostly from the King James Bible, the selections from the book of Psalms being from the Great Bible, the version contained in the Book of Common Prayer. Jennens conceived of the work as an oratorio in three parts, which he described as "Part One: The prophesy and realization of God's plan to redeem mankind by the coming of the Messiah. Part Two: The accomplishment of redemption by the sacrifice of Jesus, mankind's rejection of God's offer, and mankind's utter defeat when trying to oppose the power of the Almighty. Part Three: A Hymn of Thanksgiving for the final overthrow of Death"
I was quite gobsmacked when I discovered this
In addition to his musical achievements, Charles Jennens towards the end of his life began to edit a new edition of Shakespeare's plays. Five volumes were published in the period 1770-1774. Unfortunately these attracted the unfavourable attention of the renowned Shakespearean scholar George Steevens (1736-1800), whose withering criticism of Jennens coloured scholarly opinion for many years. Only relatively recently has Jennens's reputation been rehabilitated, by such scholars as Dr Ruth Smith (born 1947) of Cambridge University. Dr Smith is the author of the current Charles Jennens biography in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
And then there's the link with Charles Dickens.... The Jennens Inheritance saga is widely published in a variety of learned and not so learned tracts. Certainly, it is well accepted that given Charles Dickens' connections with Birmingham, it is quite probable that his Bleak House 'Jarndyce v Jarndyce' machinations were extensively modelled on the antics of the myriad of claimants for the Jennens fortunes. You ready for this? Take a deep breath and cancel the milk, this could take some time...
The story commenced upon the death of William Jennens, Charles' first cousin and evidently the richest commoner in England. Remember Charles died a batchelor.
William was a bit of a scruff bag and a miser by all accounts, despite being of such noble stock. His father Robert was an aide de camp of the Duke of Marlborough, and he moved to Acton PLace in Long Melford, Suffolk in 1708. William died in 1798 aged 98 and left no will. Naughty boy.
In the settlement of the estate the heir-at-law (inheritor of the real estate) was declared to be George Augustus William Curzon, a descendant of Robert Jennens' eldest sister Hester. His mother Sophia Charlotte Howe (Baroness Howe and Lady Curzon) took possession on behalf of her second son, Richard William Penn Curzon (1796-1870), who was created first Earl Howe in 1821. Earl Howe was later alleged to have been an illegitimate son of a spinster named Ann Oakes, substituted as the heir-at-law. This took care of the cash and land. Complicated?? You ain't heard nothing yet.
The personal property of William Jennings was divided between the living next-of-kin who were William Lygon, first Earl Beauchamp (1747-1816), a grandson of Hester Jennens, and Mary, Lady Andover, a granddaughter of Humphrey Jennens' daughter Ann. This might have been ok, but then enter Uncle Sam et al...
The claims of American descendants of William Jennings, uncle of intestate William Jennings, are based on the fact that children of the uncle were alive in America at the time of the intestate's death and should have been considered as next-of-kin with Lady Mary Andover and Earl Beauchamp. Furthermore, if the alleged illegitimacy of the first Earl Howe could be proven, the question of proper disposition of the realty would likewise entitle the American claimants to consideration. The matter is further complicated by the fact that parish church at Nether Whiteacre, eldest son of Humphrey Jennens, died unmarried, willing his real estate and his rights in entailed property to the heirs of his sister Hester. With me so far? No I can't be bothered either, but the sums at stake would be billions today, there was a lot of money in iron making!
Whatever, all of this convoluted story is commemorated in the names of local streets, Penn Street, Curzon Street, Howe Street, Gopsall Street, Jennens Row, and Andover Street to name a few.. so that's alright then. OK?
John Jennens land shown in Hill's Map of Brum 1553
His House in Court House Yard
Erdington Hall
Gopsall Hall
The Jennings family was of Danish extraction, and settled in England in the time of King Canute. Here is a poem about the wealth of the family. Very Kirk Douglas sounding....no idea who wrote it.
The Jennens’ Millions
“By the hammer of Thor! By the hammer of Thor!”
Cried Jennens the smith as he smote the ore,
“Devil or Christ, I care not, I,
Good red gold will I have or die.
Lust of the Viking strain of mine,
Good red gold and good red wine,
“By the hammer of Thor! By the hammer of Thor!”
The Devil flew in at the smithy door.
“O, Jennens, smith of the Viking strain,
‘Twere shame that thou called’st sat on my name in vain”
The Devil was lean, the Devil was fat,
Gave Jennens the smith small heed to that.
His horns were short, his horns were long,
Or fire shot forth from his eyes or tongue,
Knew Jennens no whit, nor his shape nor size;
His hammer he hurled at the Devil’s eyes.
The Devil flew, but the rede is told,
The hammer was straightway turned to gold,
Whate’er it smote, the legends say,
Was turned into red gold straightway.
Gold by the hammer’s shaping shown.
“The Devil’s own! “The Devil’s own!”
“Take me and serve!” “By the hammer. Yea!”
Laughed Jennens the smith in the Viking way,
“So the gold be good. A wondrous store
Of lands and of gold shall be mine therefore.”
Jennens the smith gat lands and gold,
And gat in his pride as the rede is told.
“By the hammer of Thor! By the hammer of Thor!”
“I’ll cozen the Devil himself,” he swore.
The hammer of gold-he hath graven the same,
“In the name of Christ.” In the holy name.
The Devil flew straight from the Devil’s mass,
The graven hammer he dared not pass.
Laughed Jennens the smith, “Now Christ I bless,
The gold and the lands shall be mine natheless.”
The Devil that raged spake soft with guile,
“The land and the gold shall be thine awhile.
“Thy children’s children shall rue it yet,
But never the curse on the gold shall let.
“Thy children’s children shall seek to hold
The baleful millions of phantom gold.
“Youth shall wither, and age shall pale,
And men shall laugh at the sorry tale.
“The lands shall grow and the millions swell,
And none shall have. It is writ in hell.
“Thy soul for the souls of thy sons I give!”
“Ho! Ho!” laughed the smith, so my sons shall live,
“And the gold be mine, I will get me more,
And their souls shall be thine, By the hammer of Thor!”
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