John Jackson (22 February 1811 – 5 January 1885) was a British divine and a

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 Brit ...

bishop for 32 years.

Early life

Bishop of London Vanity Fair 12 November 1870

Jackson was born in 1811, the son of Henry and Lucy Jackson. He was educated at Reading School under

Richard Valpy Richard Valpy (7 December 1754 – 28 March 1836) was a British schoolmaster and priest of the Church of England. Life and career Valpy was born the eldest son of Richard and Catherine Valpy in Jersey. He was sent to schools in Normandy and ...

, and at

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named aft ...

Career

In 1835 Jackson was ordained deacon and began pastoral work as a curate at

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckin ...

. This he left in 1836 to become head-master of the Islington proprietary school. Settled in North London, Jackson rapidly won a position as a preacher. As evening lecturer at Stoke Newington parish church, he delivered the sermons on ‘The Sinfulness of Little Sins,’ the most successful of his published works. In 1842 he was appointed first incumbent of

St James' Church, Muswell Hill St James Church, Muswell Hill, is a large Anglican church in London, known as "the Church on the Hill". History The original building was consecrated in 1842, designed by Samuel Angell. In 1874, the church was extended. A new church was designed ...

, while retaining his educational post. In 1845 his university made him one of its select preachers, an honour repeated several times. He was Rector of

St James's Church, Piccadilly St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, United Kingdom. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. Th ...

1846–1853. In 1853 Jackson was Boyle lecturer. Augustus Buckland says that 'there his reputation as a good organiser and a thoughtful, if not brilliant, preacher steadily grew". Jackson was appointed 'chaplain in ordinary' to the queen in 1847, and canon of Bristol in 1853. Jackson was appointed

Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...

in 1853 and consecrated by

John Bird Sumner John Bird Sumner (25 February 1780 – 6 September 1862) was a bishop in the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury. Early life John Bird Sumner was born in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, on 25 February 1780. He was the eldest son of the R ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

, on 5 May at St Mary-at-Lambeth. The choice was widely approved. He welded together the counties of Lincoln and Nottingham, stimulated the educational work of the diocese, and raised the tone of its clergy. In convocation he was active, but rarely spoke in the House of Lords. In 1868, Jackson was unexpectedly selected by

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation ...

, then prime minister, to be

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

where he continued until his retirement in 1885. According to Buckland, "Jackson had the mind of a lawyer, and was a thorough man of business"''.'' Despite grave anxieties over ritual prosecutions, he achieved much that was valuable. Jackson energetically supported the Bishop of London's Fund, encouraged the organisation of lay help, and, after much hesitation, created a diocesan conference. At first he was opposed to the ritual movement. Jackson's conflict with controversial cleric Stewart Headlam, whom he dismissed from the curacy at St Mathew's, Bethnal Green, in 1878, was widely known. In correspondence with Headlam about the latter's support for the theatrical profession he said, "I have read your letter with great pain. Not for the first time it has caused me to ask pardon of our great Master if I erred, as I fear I did, in admitting you to the Ministry." In later years, he displayed more toleration to the ritualists as was expressed in his final action in the case of A. H. Mackonochie. According to Buckland, Jackson was a thorough, methodical, patient worker, reserved in manner, but nevertheless sympathetic . Jackson died suddenly on 6 January 1885 and is buried in the churchyard of

All Saints Church, Fulham All Saints' Church is the ancient parish church of Fulham, in the County of Middlesex, pre-dating the Reformation. It is now an Anglican church in Fulham, London, sited close to the River Thames, beside the northern approach to Putney Brid ...

, London. A memorial to Jackson, by Thomas Woolner, can be seen at

Saint Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Gr ...

along the south wall of the

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

."Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" Sinclair, W. p. 465: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909.

Personal life

He married Mary Ann Frith Browell (1818-1874) on 11 January 1838. They had one son and ten daughters.

Writings

* ''The Sanctifying Influence of the Holy Spirit is indispensable to Human Salvation'' (Ellerton essay), Oxford, 1834 * ''Six Sermons on the Leading Points of the Christian Character'', London, 1844 * ''The Sinfulness of Little Sins'', London, 1849 * ''Repentance: a Course of Sermons'', London, 1851 * ''The Witness of the Spirit'', London, 1854 * ''God's Word and Man's Heart'', London, 1864 He also wrote the commentary and critical notes on the pastoral epistles in ''The Speaker's Commentary'', New Testament, vol. iii., London, 1881; a preface to Waterland's ''On the Eucharist'', Oxford, 1868; and many separately issued charges and sermons.

Footnotes

External links

Papers and correspondence
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, John 1811 births 1885 deaths People educated at Reading School Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Bishops of London Deans of the Chapel Royal Bishops of Lincoln Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Burials at All Saints Church, Fulham