Henry Jacobs (3 January 1824 – 6 January 1901) was a Church of England priest and schoolmaster, and the first Dean of Christchurch, New Zealand.

Biography

Jacobs was born at

Chale Chale is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight of England, in the United Kingdom. It is located three kilometres from Niton in the south of the Island in the area known as the Back of the Wight. The village of Chale lies at the foot of ...

Abbey,

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

, the son of William Hearn Jacobs and Ann Tucker. The Jacobs were substantial landowners on the Isle of Wight and two of Henry's ancestors, the Reverend Matthew and the Reverend John Heron, were rectors of Chale in the 16th and 17th centuries. Jacobs was descended from many of the principal families on the Isle of Wight, including the Oglanders, Worsleys, Urrys, Dingleys and Leighs. He was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

where he was captain of the school. From Charterhouse he gained a scholarship to

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

. He was awarded an MA degree in 1848, ordained deacon in 1847 and priest in 1848. He became a Michel Fellow of Queen's College. From 1847 to 1848 he was curate of

Bussage Bussage is a village in Gloucestershire, England in the district of Stroud. The village was made famous in the 1970s after a sighting of the actor Paul Newman, who was rumoured to be looking for a home in the area. Geography There is an olde ...

, Gloucestershire, in 1848 he was briefly headmaster of St Nicolas' College,

Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in West Sussex, England. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on the ...

, and from 1849 to 1850 curate of

All Saints Church, Poplar All Saints' Church, Poplar, is a church in Newby Place, Poplar, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and is the Church of England parish church of Poplar. It was built in 1821–3 to serve the newly created parish. The church was designated a Gra ...

, London. In 1850 he sailed to New Zealand on to be classical professor of a proposed new college in Canterbury. ''Sir George Seymour'' was one of the

First Four Ships The First Four Ships refers to the four sailing vessels chartered by the Canterbury Association which left Plymouth, England, in September 1850 to transport the first English settlers to new homes in Canterbury, New Zealand. The colonists or se ...

to carry emigrants from England to the new colony of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

in New Zealand on behalf of the

Canterbury Association The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by members of parliament, peers, and Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The settlement was to be called Canterbury, with its capital to be known as Christchurch. ...

. On arrival he conducted the first

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

service in the Canterbury region and in July 1851, conducted the service at the opening of the first church in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. From 1852 he was headmaster of the Christ's College Grammar School, Christchurch. He was appointed professor of divinity at the new college in 1855. Dean Jacobs opened Christ's College Grammar School on 21 April 1862, as its first headmaster, and became Sub-Warden in the Deed of Foundation of the College on 21 May 1855, and shortly afterwards Watts-Russell Professor. There is a boarding house there named 'Jacobs'. In 1863 he resigned his headmastership to become the incumbent of the parish of St Michael and All Angels, Christchurch, was subsequently collated archdeacon and,"UNIVERSITY AND CLERICAL INTELLIGENCE" ''Jackson's Oxford Journal'' (Oxford, England), Saturday, August 25, 1866; Issue 5913 in June 1866, appointed the first

Dean of Christchurch ChristChurch Cathedral, also called Christ Church Cathedral and (rarely) Cathedral Church of Christ, is a deconsecrated Anglican cathedral in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was built between 1864 and 1904 in the centre of the city, ...

. In 1872 he accepted the responsibility of editing the ''New Zealand Church News''. He also published a number of pamphlets and poems. After returning from a visit to England in 1891, he suffered a paralysis, died in 1901 and was buried in Barbadoes Street Cemetery in Christchurch. He had married twice: firstly in London in 1850, Charlotte Emily Corrick and secondly, in Christchurch in 1871, Emily Rose Thompson. His two children by his first wife died young; he had several more by his second.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Henry 1824 births 1901 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Deans of Christchurch Archdeacons of Christchurch Burials at Barbadoes Street Cemetery Head Masters of Lancing College People from Christchurch Canterbury Pilgrims