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James Guidney or Jemmy the Rock Man (born 1779 or 1782; died 1866) was a British soldier and later street pedlar in
James Guidney or Jemmy the Rock Man (born 1779 or 1782; died 1866) was a British soldier and later street pedlar in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, England.
Guidney was born in Norwich in 1779 or 1782. He received five years of part-time education, and worked as an errand boy, before joining the 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment, initially as a drummer boy, in 1797. He served with them in Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
and then Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, where he lost his right eye as the result of Ophthalmia. In around 1809 he transferred to the First Royal Veteran Battalion, claiming to have eventually been promoted to "Sergeant and Drum Major to the Battalion".
Several artists painted Guidney; a watercolour portrait by John Church Dempsey
John Church Dempsey (1802–1877) was an English artist specialising in portraiture. He operated a stationery shop in Bristol, but in 1845 he was declared bankrupt and his effects were seized. After this he became Vagrancy (people), semi-itinerant ...
is in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) is a museum located in Hobart, Tasmania. The museum was established in 1846, by the Royal Society of Tasmania, the oldest Royal Society outside England.
The TMAG receives 400,000 visitors annually.
...
and three in oil (one by William Thomas Roden
William Thomas Roden (31 May 1818 – 25 December 1892) was a nineteenth-century English artist.
Life
William Thomas Roden was born in Bradford Street, Birmingham, England, the son of William and Sarah Roden. He was apprenticed to a Mr. Vye, ...
), and a watercolour, are in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, which also holds a silver plated relief, and the tin from which he sold medicated toffee, "good for cough or cold".
His short biography, ''Some particulars of the life and adventures of James Guidney, a well known character in Birmingham. Written from his own account of himself.'', was published anonymously in Birmingham and ran to at least four editions, with revisions. It is considered autobiographical, and has many demonstrably-incorrect dates. Among the incidents described are the capture of a purported mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes asso ...
, and a lamb that Guidney claimed had assumed human form and instructed him to grow a beard.
Guidney died on 28 September 1866 and is buried in Birmingham's Witton Cemetery
Witton Cemetery (), which opened in Witton in 1863 as Birmingham City Cemetery, is the largest cemetery in Birmingham, England. Covering an area of , it once had three chapels; however, two of these were demolished in 1980. The cemetery would ...
.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guidney, James Military personnel from Birmingham, West Midlands 1782 births 1866 deaths Military personnel from Norwich