Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Jackson, John (1811-1885)

by Augustus Robert Buckland ‎

JACKSON, JOHN (1811–1885), bishop successively of Lincoln and of London, the son of Henry Jackson of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and afterwards of London, was born in London on 22 Feb. 1811. He was educated under Dr. Valpy at Reading, and became scholar of Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1829. In 1833 he came out in the first class in the honour school of lit. human., a class which also contained the names of Charles John, afterwards Earl Canning, Henry George Liddell, afterwards dean of Christ Church, Robert Scott, afterwards dean of Rochester, and Robert Lowe, afterwards Lord Sherbrooke. Jackson remained at Oxford a short time after taking his degree, and failed in a competition for a fellowship at Oriel, but in 1834 was awarded the Ellerton theological prize. In 1835 he was ordained deacon, and began pastoral work as a curate at Henley-on-Thames. This he relinquished 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's, Muswell Hill, retaining his mastership the while. In 1845 his university made him one of its select preachers, an honour repeated in 1850, 1862, and 1866. In 1853 Jackson was Boyle lecturer, and in the same year, at the suggestion of his friend Canon Harvey (to whom the post was first offered), whose curate he had been at Hornsey, he was made vicar of St. James's, Piccadilly. There his reputation as a good organiser and a thoughtful, if not brilliant, preacher steadily grew. He was appointed chaplain in ordinary to the queen in 1847, and canon of Bristol in 1853. In the same year the see of Lincoln fell vacant by the death of Dr. Kaye, and Lord Aberdeen asked Jackson to fill it. The choice was widely approved. Even Samuel Wilberforce thought it ‘quite a respectable appointment,’ which, however, had ‘turned at the last on a feather's weight’ (Life, ii. 179). The diocese found in Jackson the thorough, methodical, patient worker it needed. He welded together the counties of Lincoln and Nottingham, galvanised into life the ruridecanal system, 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. When Tait was translated from London to Canterbury in 1868, Jackson was unexpectedly selected by Mr. Disraeli, then prime minister, for the vacant see of London. The choice was amply vindicated by the results. Jackson, like his predecessor, 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. By the creation of the diocese of St. Albans, and the rearrangement of Rochester and Winchester, the diocese of London was made more workable, and towards the end of his life a suffragan was appointed for the oversight of East London. 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 opposed to the ritual movement, he displayed toleration in his final action in the case of A. H. Mackonochie [q. v.] He died suddenly on 6 Jan. 1885, and was buried in Fulham churchyard. Methodical in thought and act, Jackson was reserved in manner, but was sympathetic nevertheless. Jackson married in 1838 Mary Anne Frith, daughter of Henry Browell of Kentish Town, by whom he had one son and ten daughters. Jackson's works were:

1. ‘The Sanctifying Influence of the Holy Spirit is indispensable to Human Salvation’ (Ellerton essay), Oxford, 1834.
2. ‘Six Sermons on the Leading Points of the Christian Character,’ London, 1844.
3. ‘The Sinfulness of Little Sins,’ London, 1849.
4. ‘Repentance: a Course of Sermons,’ London, 1851.
5. ‘The Witness of the Spirit,’ London, 1854.
6. ‘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 ‘On the Eucharist,’ Oxford, 1868; with many separately issued charges and sermons.

[Times, 7 Jan. 1885; Guardian, 7 and 14 Jan. 1885; Record, 9 and 16 Jan. 1885; Our Bishops and Deans, London, 1875, i. 349; Life of Samuel Wilberforce, London, 1881, ii. 179; Annals of the Low Church Party, London, 1888, ii. 154, 250, 377, 488; Honours Reg. of the Univ. of Oxford (Oxford, 1883), pp. 135, 136, 175, 222.]

A. R. B.