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John Jebb (7 September 1775 – 9 December 1833) was an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
churchman and
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...
.
Biography
John Jebb was born in
Drogheda, younger son of John Jebb senior, an
alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...
of the town of Drogheda, and his second wife Alicia Forster.
[Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' London John Murray 1926 Vol, 2 p.340] His father had an estate at
Leixlip
Leixlip ( or ; , IPA: lʲeːmʲənˠˈwɾˠad̪ˠaːnʲ is a town in north-east County Kildare, Ireland. Its location on the confluence of the River Liffey and the Rye Water has marked it as a frontier town historically: on the border betwee ...
in
County Kildare: his grandfather Richard Jebb had come to Ireland from
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...
.
[ His father was in reduced financial circumstances for a time, but later recovered his fortunes, and at his death in 1796 he left John £2000
] He was educated at the local school in Celbridge, then at Free Grammar School
Free Grammar Schools were schools which usually operated under the jurisdiction of the church in pre-modern England. Education had long been associated with religious institutions since a Cathedral grammar school was established at Canterbury unde ...
, Derry (later renamed Foyle College, now part of Foyle and Londonderry College) where he formed a lifelong friendship with the theologian Alexander Knox
Alexander Knox (16 January 1907 – 25 April 1995) was a Canadian actor on stage, screen, and occasionally television. He was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his performance as Woodrow Wilson in the film '' Wilson'' (1944).
...
, and at Trinity College Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
.[
Ordained in 1799, he became curate of ]Swanlinbar
Swanlinbar () is a small village on the N87 national secondary road in north-west County Cavan, Ireland, close to the Cladagh river and near the Fermanagh border.
The village is situated in the townlands of Furnaceland and Hawkswood, in the ci ...
, County Cavan; and in 1801 of Mogorbane, County Tipperary
County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...
. In 1805 he became private chaplain to Charles Brodrick
Charles Brodrick (3 May 1761 – 6 May 1822) was a reforming Irish clergyman and Archbishop of Cashel in the Church of Ireland.
Origins and education
Brodrick was the third son of the 3rd Viscount Midleton and Albinia Townshend, sister of Vis ...
, Archbishop of Cashel
The Archbishop of Cashel ( ga, Ard-Easpag Chaiseal Mumhan) was an archiepiscopal title which took its name after the town of Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland. Following the Reformation, there had been parallel apostolic successions to the titl ...
, and in 1809 he became rector of Abingdon, County Limerick
"Remember Limerick"
, image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland
, subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province
, subd ...
, where his curate was Charles Forster, his lifelong friend and first biographer. He spent some time in England, where he became a friend of William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...
and of Hannah More
Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at a ...
. In 1812 he was seriously injured in a carriage accident; the injuries were poorly treated by his medical advisers, and he probably never fully recovered his health.[
In 1821 he became ]archdeacon of Emly
The Archdeacon of Emly was a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Diocese of Emly and its successor amalgamated dioceses.Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae Vol I pp101-105 Cotton, H.: Dublin, Hodges & Smith 1851
Notable archdeacons included Garrett Fit ...
. For his services in maintaining order in the district of Emly during the disturbances that followed the outbreak of famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompani ...
in the west of Ireland in 1822, he was made Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe
The Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe was the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, which was in the Province of Cashel until 1833, then afterwards in the Province of Dublin.
History
The title was ...
in that year.[ As bishop, he is credited with raising the academic standard for candidates for holy orders: he often quoted an old saying that candidates might deceive him about their Godliness, but not about their scholarship.][
In 1827 he had a stroke, which left him largely incapacitated physically, and afterwards, he spent his time in various places in England, devoting himself to writing, in particular the celebrated correspondence with his friend Alexander Knox, for which he is chiefly remembered. He favoured the ]High Church
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
approach to ritual and is regarded as a forerunner of the Oxford Movement. He died unmarried in East Hill, near Wandsworth
Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
Toponymy
Wandsworth takes its nam ...
, Surrey. He was remembered as a man of great learning, and a churchman of strong convictions and broad sympathies.[ His close friend Charles Forster published his ''Life of John Jebb'' in 1836.
Richard Jebb, justice of the ]Court of King's Bench (Ireland)
The Court of King's Bench (of Queen's Bench when the sovereign was female, and formerly of Chief Place or Chief Pleas) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The King's Be ...
(1766-1834) was his elder brother, and a deep affection existed between the two.[ Richard was the father of John Jebb (1805-1886), canon in residence of Hereford Cathedral.][
In character Bishop Jebb was described as a man of great generosity, candour and integrity, modest and unassuming, naturally shy and reserved in manner, but with a keen sense of humour.][Forster ''" The life of John Jebb"''.]
Works
*
Sermons
' (London, 1815)
*
Sacred Literature
' (1820)
*
Practical Theology
' (2 vols., 1830)
*''Biographical Memoir of William Phelan'' (1832)
*His correspondence with Alexander Knox
Alexander Knox (16 January 1907 – 25 April 1995) was a Canadian actor on stage, screen, and occasionally television. He was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his performance as Woodrow Wilson in the film '' Wilson'' (1944).
...
was edited by C. Forster (2 vols., 1834).
*
Piety without asceticism, or, The Protestant Kempis
' (1846)
References
Bibliography
* Cross, F. L. (ed.) (1957) The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford: U. P.; pp. 716–17
* Mozley, Anne (ed.) ''Letters of J. H. Newman'', i. 440, 470, ib. 1890
* DNB, xxix, 259–261
External links
Bibliographic directory
from Project Canterbury
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jebb, John
1775 births
1833 deaths
Fellows of the Royal Society
People educated at Foyle College
Archdeacons of Emly
Bishops of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe