Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Jenkins, Joseph (1743-1819)
JENKINS, JOSEPH (1743–1819), particular baptist, born at Wrexham, Denbighshire, in 1743, was son of Evan Jenkins, former pastor of the baptist church at Wrexham. He learned when sixteen ‘Greek and Hebrew under Mr. Walker,’ in London; in 1761 was awarded one of Dr. Ward's exhibitions to King's College, Aberdeen, where he was laureated in 1765; was baptised in London on 6 April 1766 by Dr. Stennet, and became a member of his church in Little Wild Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. Three years later he returned to Wrexham, and exercised for a time some pastoral authority over an independent church in Common Hall Lane, Chester. In 1773 he was ordained to the pastorate of ‘the old meeting,’ the baptist church formerly under the guidance of his father, and published his ‘Confession of Faith,’ at Shrewsbury. Many curious notices of his pastorate at Wrexham exist in the church-book which he kept during most of his stay there. While at Wrexham he was an important member of the Midland Association of Particular Baptist Churches, being appointed in 1792 to draw up the circular letter to the member churches (see Baptist Annual Register, 1792, p. 409). In 1790 he received the degree of D.D. from the university of Edinburgh. Four years later he became the minister of ‘the newly raised baptist church in Blandford Street,’ London.
In 1798 he succeeded Joseph Swain in the Wednesday-evening lectureship at Devonshire Square, and in the pastorate of the particular baptist church in East Street, Walworth. He remained there till his death, at Walworth, on 21 Feb. 1819. He was buried in Bunhill Fields. He was twice married and left issue. In the ‘Baptist Annual Register’ for 1801, p. 26, there is a fine engraving of him.
Jenkins published many separate sermons and religious tracts, chiefly in defence of his views on baptism. Some of the former were collected in 1779, in two vols., and the latter before 1795, in one vol. He was also author of: 1. ‘The Orthodox Dissenting Minister's Reasons for a further Application to Parliament for Relief in the matter of Subscription,’ London, 1775. 2. ‘Discourses on Select Passages of Sacred History,’ Shrewsbury, 1779. 3. ‘The Orthodox Dissenting Minister's Reasons against Subscribing the Articles of the Church of England’ (before 1781). 4. ‘Reflexions on the Apology of the Rev. Theophilus Lindsay: being a defence of the Doctrine of the Trinity’ (before 1781). 5. ‘A Week well spent, … or plain and serious Reflexions for every day in the week,’ Wrexham, 1791.
Another Joseph Jenkins (fl. 1730) was minister of general baptist congregations in Hart Street, Covent Garden (1702–9), at High Hall (1709–16), and in Duke Street, Southwark (1716–31). He published seven sermons between 1702 and 1725, and was alive in 1736.
[Wilson's Dissenting Churches; Gent. Mag. vol. lxxxix.; Baptist Annual Register; Bunhill Memorials; Palmer's Nonconformity in Wrexham; Joshua Thomas's Hanes y Bedyddwyr (quoted in Palmer); Watt's Bibl. Brit.; General Baptist Repository; works quoted.]