David Jennings (tutor)
Encyclopedia
David Jennings was an English Dissenting minister and tutor, known also as the author of Jewish Antiquities.
was continued by his elder brother John
. David passed through the Kibworth grammar school, and studied for the ministry (1709–14) at the Fund Academy in Moorfields
, under Isaac Chauncy
and his successors, Thomas Ridgley, D.D., and John Eames
. His first sermon was at Battersea
, 23 May 1714. In March 1715 he was chosen evening lecturer at Rotherhithe
; in June 1716 he became assistant to John Foxon at Girdlers' Hall, Basinghall Street
; on 19 May 1718 he was called to succeed Thomas Simmons as pastor of the independent congregation, Wapping New Stairs. Here he was ordained on 25 July 1718, and in this charge he remained till his death.
At the Salters' Hall debates of 1719 he sided with the non-subscribers, though a Calvinist. In 1733 he was selected by William Coward
as one of the lecturers in Bury Street, St. Mary Axe; he became one of the Coward trustees in May 1743, and in August 1743 one of the Coward lecturers at Little St. Helen's.
Jennings's career as a divinity tutor began in 1744, on the death of Eames, whose successor he became under the Coward trust, the "congregational" fund at this point transferring its support to another academy. The presbyterian board sent him no students till 1758. Jennings extended the course of study from four years to five, and abandoned the boarding school model. The lectures were given in Wellclose Square
, at the residence of Samuel Morton Savage
, the tutor in classics and philosophy. Unlike his brother John, Jennings did not attempt lectures on an independent plan. The divinity text-book on which he lectured was the ‘Medulla Theologiæ’ of the Dutch divine, Van Marck. His lecture notes on the Moses and Aaron of Thomas Godwyn
became the posthumous work on Jewish Antiquities, by which Jennings is best known.
A strict disciplinarian, he was suspicious of any heterodoxy. Two of his students, Thomas and John Wright, afterwards presbyterian ministers in Bristol
, were expelled on grounds of doctrine; in fact the majority of his pupils became Arian
s, according to Alexander Gordon
writing in the Dictionary of National Biography
. Philip Furneaux
, his editor, Joshua Toulmin
, his biographer, and Abraham Rees
, the encyclopedist, were among his students; Thomas Cogan
and Thomas Jervis were under him for short periods. He encouraged the study of physical science, enjoyed astronomy, and had in practical mechanics as a hobby; he was also musical.
In May 1749 the university of St. Andrews, at Philip Doddridge
's suggestion, sent him its diploma of D.D. He enjoyed good health till the last two years of his life, and died on Thursday, 16 September 1762.
(1743), Isaac Watts
(1749), and Timothy Jollie
(1757); also
Posthumous were
His Bury Street lectures were published in 1735; he translated a tract of A. H. Francke on preaching, 1736, and issued an abridgment of Cotton Mather
's life, 1744.
, by Elizabeth, sister of Nathaniel Lardner. Joseph Jennings's son David (died 6 December 1819) was the author of Hawkhurst, a Sketch of its History, &c., 1792; he had erected in 1789 a monument to Lardner, his great-uncle, in Hawkhurst
Church, Kent.
Life
He was the younger son of the ejected minister John Jennings (1634–1701), whose ministry to the independent congregation at KibworthKibworth
Kibworth is an area of the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, that contains two civil parishes—the villages of Kibworth Beauchamp and Kibworth Harcourt . According to the 2001 census, Kibworth Beauchamp has a population of 3,798, and Kibworth Harcourt has a population of 990. The two...
was continued by his elder brother John
John Jennings (tutor)
John Jennings was an English Nonconformist minister and tutor of an early dissenting academy at Kibworth, Leicestershire, the original institution that became Daventry Academy...
. David passed through the Kibworth grammar school, and studied for the ministry (1709–14) at the Fund Academy in Moorfields
Moorfields
In London, the Moorfields were one of the last pieces of open land in the City of London, near the Moorgate. The fields were divided into three areas, the Moorfields proper, just north of Bethlem Hospital, and inside the City boundaries, and Middle and Upper Moorfields to the north.After the Great...
, under Isaac Chauncy
Isaac Chauncy
Isaac Chauncy was an English dissenting minister.-Life:Chauncy was the eldest son of Charles Chauncy, and was born on 23 August and baptised at Ware, Hertfordshire, on 30 August 1632...
and his successors, Thomas Ridgley, D.D., and John Eames
John Eames
-Life:He was a native of London. He was admitted to Merchant Taylors' School on 10 March 1696–7, and was subsequently trained for the dissenting ministry. He preached only once and seems never to have been ordained....
. His first sermon was at Battersea
Battersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
, 23 May 1714. In March 1715 he was chosen evening lecturer at Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe is a residential district in inner southeast London, England and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is located on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping and the Isle of Dogs on the north bank, and is a part of the Docklands area...
; in June 1716 he became assistant to John Foxon at Girdlers' Hall, Basinghall Street
Basinghall Street
Basinghall Street is a street in the City of London, England. It today lies chiefly in the ward of Bassishaw with the southern end in Cheap and Coleman Street wards...
; on 19 May 1718 he was called to succeed Thomas Simmons as pastor of the independent congregation, Wapping New Stairs. Here he was ordained on 25 July 1718, and in this charge he remained till his death.
At the Salters' Hall debates of 1719 he sided with the non-subscribers, though a Calvinist. In 1733 he was selected by William Coward
William Coward (merchant)
William Coward was a London merchant in the Jamaica trade, remembered for his support of Dissenters, particularly his educational philanthropy.-Life:...
as one of the lecturers in Bury Street, St. Mary Axe; he became one of the Coward trustees in May 1743, and in August 1743 one of the Coward lecturers at Little St. Helen's.
Jennings's career as a divinity tutor began in 1744, on the death of Eames, whose successor he became under the Coward trust, the "congregational" fund at this point transferring its support to another academy. The presbyterian board sent him no students till 1758. Jennings extended the course of study from four years to five, and abandoned the boarding school model. The lectures were given in Wellclose Square
Wellclose Square
Wellclose Square lies in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, between Cable Street to the north and The Highway to the south.The western edge, now called Ensign Street, was previously called Well Street. The southern edge was called Neptune street. On the north side is Graces Alley, home to...
, at the residence of Samuel Morton Savage
Samuel Morton Savage
-Life:He was born in London on 19 July 1721. His grandfather, John Savage, was pastor of the seventh-day baptist church, Mill Yard, Goodman's Fields. Savage was related to Hugh Boulter....
, the tutor in classics and philosophy. Unlike his brother John, Jennings did not attempt lectures on an independent plan. The divinity text-book on which he lectured was the ‘Medulla Theologiæ’ of the Dutch divine, Van Marck. His lecture notes on the Moses and Aaron of Thomas Godwyn
Thomas Godwyn
Thomas Godwyn DD , headmaster and scholar, was the second son of Anthony Godwyn of Wookey, Somerset. He entered Magdalen College, Oxford at the age of fifteen and between 1604 and 1610 was a demy of the college...
became the posthumous work on Jewish Antiquities, by which Jennings is best known.
A strict disciplinarian, he was suspicious of any heterodoxy. Two of his students, Thomas and John Wright, afterwards presbyterian ministers in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, were expelled on grounds of doctrine; in fact the majority of his pupils became Arian
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
s, according to Alexander Gordon
Alexander Gordon (Unitarian)
Alexander Gordon was an English Unitarian minister and religious historian. A prolific contributor to the Dictionary of National Biography, he wrote for it well over seven hundred articles dealing mainly with nonconformists....
writing in the Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
. Philip Furneaux
Philip Furneaux
-Early life:Furneaux was born in December 1726 at Totnes, Devon. At the grammar school there he formed a life-long friendship with Benjamin Kennicott. In 1742 or 1743 he came to London to study for the dissenting ministry under David Jennings, at the dissenting academy in Wellclose Square...
, his editor, Joshua Toulmin
Joshua Toulmin
Joshua Toulmin of Taunton, England was a noted theologian and a serial Dissenting minister of Presbyterian , Baptist , and then Unitarian congregations...
, his biographer, and Abraham Rees
Abraham Rees
Abraham Rees was a Welsh nonconformist minister, and compiler of Rees's Cyclopaedia .- Life :He was the second son of Lewis Rees, by his wife Esther, daughter of Abraham Penry, and was born at born in Llanbrynmair, Montgomeryshire. Lewis Rees Abraham Rees (1743 – 9 June 1825) was a Welsh...
, the encyclopedist, were among his students; Thomas Cogan
Thomas Cogan
Thomas Cogan was an English nonconformist physician, a founder of the Royal Humane Society and philosophical writer.-Life:He was born at Rothwell, Northamptonshire on 8 February 1736, the half-brother of Eliezer Cogan...
and Thomas Jervis were under him for short periods. He encouraged the study of physical science, enjoyed astronomy, and had in practical mechanics as a hobby; he was also musical.
In May 1749 the university of St. Andrews, at Philip Doddridge
Philip Doddridge
Philip Doddridge DD was an English Nonconformist leader, educator, and hymnwriter.-Early life:...
's suggestion, sent him its diploma of D.D. He enjoyed good health till the last two years of his life, and died on Thursday, 16 September 1762.
Works
Jennings published several sermons, including an ordination sermon for John Jennings (1742) and funeral sermons for Daniel NealDaniel Neal
Daniel Neal was an English historian.Born in London, he was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School, and at the universities of Utrecht and Leiden...
(1743), Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...
(1749), and Timothy Jollie
Timothy Jollie
Timothy Jollie, , was a nonconformist minister and notable educator in the north of England.-Biography:Timothy Jollie, son of Thomas Jollie, was born at Altham, Lancashire, about 1659. On 27 August 1673 he entered the dissenting academy of Richard Frankland at Rathmell, Yorkshire...
(1757); also
- ‘The Beauty and Benefit of Early Piety,’ &c., 1730.
- ‘A Vindication of the Scripture Doctrine of Original Sin,’ &c., 1740, anonymous, against John Taylor of Norwich.
- ‘An Introduction to the Use of the Globes,’ &c., 1747; an appendix deals with some astronomical difficulties in the Book of Genesis.
- ‘The Scripture Testimony … an Appeal to Reason … for the Truth of the Holy Scriptures,’ &c., 1755,; several times reprinted; 1815, 12mo, with preface by B. Cracknell, D.D.
Posthumous were
- ‘An Introduction to the Knowledge of Medals,’ &c., 1763; reprinted, Birmingham, 1775.
- ‘Jewish Antiquities,’ &c., 1766, 2 vols.; reprinted in 1 vol., 1808, 1823, 1837, &c. Edited by Philip Furneaux.
His Bury Street lectures were published in 1735; he translated a tract of A. H. Francke on preaching, 1736, and issued an abridgment of Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...
's life, 1744.
Family
His eldest son, Joseph, married a daughter of Daniel NealDaniel Neal
Daniel Neal was an English historian.Born in London, he was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School, and at the universities of Utrecht and Leiden...
, by Elizabeth, sister of Nathaniel Lardner. Joseph Jennings's son David (died 6 December 1819) was the author of Hawkhurst, a Sketch of its History, &c., 1792; he had erected in 1789 a monument to Lardner, his great-uncle, in Hawkhurst
Hawkhurst
Hawkhurst is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. The parish lies to the south-east of Tunbridge Wells. Hawkhurst itself is virtually two villages...
Church, Kent.