Richard Garfield Jenkin (9 October 1925 – 29 October 2002), was a
Cornish nationalist politician and one of the founding members of
Mebyon Kernow. He was also a Grand Bard of the
Gorseth Kernow.
Cornish language
In 1947, Jenkin was made a Bard of the
Gorseth Kernow through Cornish language qualification,
while serving in the British Army. He chose the
bardic name
A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement.
The Welsh term bardd ("poet") originally referred to the Welsh poets of the Middle Ages, who m ...
Map Dyvroeth, meaning 'son of exile'.
He was a Grand Bard of the Gorseth Kernow twice, between 1976 and 1982 and between 1985 and 1988.
Jenkin was secretary of the
International Celtic Congress and later its president. He gave strong support to the
Cornish Constitutional Convention. He was president of the
Federation of Old Cornwall Societies from 1991 to 1992.
Political career
In 1951, Jenkin was one of the founding members of the
Cornish nationalist party
Mebyon Kernow.
Jenkin and his wife produced a magazine in 1952 called ''New Cornwall'', which publicised Mebyon Kernow news and policies.
He served as the party's chairman between 1973 and 1983 and became its Honorary President in 1988.
Jenkin was MK's first candidate for both the
House of Commons and the
European Parliament.
Jenkin fought two
Westminster parliamentary elections (
Falmouth and Camborne
Falmouth and Camborne was, from 1950 until 2010, a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
History ...
in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
and
St Ives in
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
). In
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
he stood for the
European parliamentary constituency on a platform of a “
Cornwall Only” seat rather than one shared with part of
Devon and polled 10,205 votes, 5.9% of the total vote.
He was a member of
Crowan Parish Council from 1964 until 1995.
Personal life
Jenkin was born on 9 October 1925 in
Ilkeston,
Derbyshire, where his Cornish father was in training as a clergyman.
Jenkin married , from
Redruth
Redruth ( , kw, Resrudh) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also inc ...
in 1954; their marriage produced: four children, Morwenna,
Loveday
Loveday is a name, thought to derive from Old English ''Leofdaeg'' or alternatively ''Lief Tag''. ''Leofdaeg'' is composed of the words ''leof'' meaning dear/beloved or precious and ''daeg'' meaning day. ''Lief Tag'' literally translates to Love ...
, Gawen and Conan.
Conan Jenkin is a member of the leadership team of MK and a Member of Truro City Council (According to the MK Official website (Accessed 24 March 2008)
He has been selected to stand for MK in the next election for the new Truro and Falmouth constituency. Ann became the first female Grand Bard from 1997 until 2000, and has served as the Honorary President of Mebyon Kernow since 2011. Loveday served as the party's leader between 1990 and 1997.
Jenkin read Chemistry at Manchester University and taught in Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
, Monmouthsire and Totnes before he settled in Leedstown in 1960, where he taught at Helston School.
Publications
*''Early life of R. M. Nance'' ed. Richard & Ann Jenkin (1961).
*''Cornwall the Hidden Land'' (with Ann Trevenen Jenkin, introduction by Philip Payton), Bracknell : West Country Publications, 1965.
*''Book of Sermons in Cornish'' produced by R.G. Jenkin (1983)
*''40 Years of Mebyon Kernow'', by Richard Jenkin and others. Publisher: Mebyon Kernow (1991)
*''Cornwall the Hidden Land'' (with Ann Trevenen Jenkin,new introduction by Philip Payton), 2nd edition, including new material, Leedstown: Noonvares Press, (2005)
*''Delyow Derow
''Delyow Derow'' (Cornish: ''Oak Leaves'') was a literary magazine in Cornish, published from 1988 to 1996 by former Grand Bard of Gorseth Kernow Richard Jenkin. Printed in Robert Morton Nance's Unified Cornish orthography
An orthography is a ...
'' (Oak Leaves) - Cornish Language Literary Magazine, vols 1-15 (1988-1996)
*''New Cornwall'' - Political magazine. Founded by Richard Gendall
Professor Richard Roscow Morris "Dick" Gendall (12 April 1924 – 12 September 2017) was a British expert on the Cornish language. He was the founder of "Modern Cornish"/''Curnoack Nowedga'', which split off during the 1980s. Whereas Ken George ma ...
in 1952. Edited by Richard and Ann Jenkin from 1956 to 1973.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkin, Richard
1925 births
2002 deaths
People from Ilkeston
Grand Bards of Gorsedh Kernow
Writers from Cornwall
Cornish language
Cornish-speaking people
Cornish nationalists
Mebyon Kernow politicians
Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom
20th-century English politicians
20th-century English writers
20th-century British Army personnel
Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester