REV. RICHARD JACKSON (1602-1681)

Born Kirkby-Lonsdale, Westmorland; vicar of Hatton and Whittington, Lancashire.

Kirkby Lonsdale 1865 Ordnance Survey.

It took a lot of deft maneuvering for Rev. Richard JACKSON (1602-1681) to hold on to his financial assets, many of which had become seriously diminished by the mid-1600s. It was one hot mess of a time to be living in - with the collision of cultural-financial-religious power struggles reaching their peak in both England and Ireland. Even so, at the end of his life, he was able to pass on significant wealth to many of his 23 children, most of whom had lived to adulthood and many of whom had settled in Ireland (his 1^st wife Dorothy OTWAY was mother of the first 15 children and died abt 1645; his 2^nd wife Jane CARTER gave birth to the remaining 8 children). In the lives of his surviving children, the uplift from his financial legacy, as well as the contribution of his mercantile, church and government connections are clear. Many of his descendants went on to exercise considerable political and economic power in Ireland for at least the next couple of hundred years.

We catch an early glimpse of Rev. Richard in 1645 (age 43) when the likely final outcome of the conflict between the Royalists (Established Church) and the Parliamentarians (Puritans etc) was still unpredictable. It is clear that his faith loyalties kept shifting according to his short-term needs. To use a hockey metaphor, he often knew how to skate to where the puck was going to be, not where it had been. Following the hockey metaphor, imagine him digging in with the inside edges of his theological skates, leaning into each turn and using the friction to pivot – sometimes towards loyalty to the Puritans, sometimes to the Royalists, and then precipitously pivoting again and again as needed. Avoiding a painful fall in this kind of game was a mix of luck, timing, and connections.

Jackson Hall, the birthplace of Rev. Richard, now operating as the Royal Hotel. It remained owned by members of the extended family well into the mid-1800s.I stayed there in 2015.

Rev. Richard was a son of William JACKSON, a well-heeled mercer and merchant of Kirkby Lonsdale, and Mary SLATER of Keighley near Bradford, Yorkshire. Based on the assets mentioned in his father’s 1626 April 20 will, one would assume that he was financially secure, but two decades later, in the mid-1640s, he faced financial ruin after lending a significant sum of money to a recusant. Because the anti-Catholic laws had both been enacted and (more pertinently) had finally been effectively enforced, this debtor had no way of repaying him. In 1645, Rev. Richard appealed to Col. Gervaise BENSON (abt 1610-1679), [a Parliamentarian who later became a Quaker], who had close connections to Oliver CROMWELL. As BENSON put it in a letter sent to Whitehall, to the Right Honourable Lord WARTON aka Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton (1613–1696):

Philip WHARTON: Portrait 1632 by Anthony van Dyke

…. I am intreated by two speaciall friends to the cause to write to yor Lorp in ther behalfe. I make bold to do it knoweing yor Lorps readynes & noble disposition to here & help honest men, in any lawfull & faiseable mattr. First one Mr. Jackson ministr of Whittingham neare Kyrby Lonsdall, a vry pious & honest able man haveing heretofore entred bond as surety wth a popish recusant (I psume it was wth hopes to gayne him to or Church) principall for the sume of 100£, this was donne before these troubles, & the popish gentleman proveing a Delinquent all his lands & meanes beinge sequestred, is utterly disabled to satisfy that debt, whereuppon honest Mr. Jackson is like to beare the burden, but I feare it will breake his backe & the creditours (now tyme begineing to be open (?) in Lancashire where Mr. Jackson lives that suites may be tryed) doth labour to pursue Mr. Jackson & recovr his 100£ of him wch indeed is easyly done for the bond is cleere. Yet if lawe pceede agaynst Mr. Jackson & compell him to pay it as it will do, he will "be undone, and not able to subsist haveing wife & many children, 14 children he hath & the 15th (is by this tyme borne for every houre his wife lookes for it) this is this honest ministrs desire & I earnestly desire the same, that yor Lorp be pleased to advise his friend (that will repaire to yor Lorp) what course may be taken that Mr. Jackson may have satisfaction, if any be to be had out of the delinquents estate of lands or woods, or any way whereby himselfe & the publike be not priudiced, we leave it to yor Lorps wisdome, & information of any that shall be imployed to come to yor Lorp. I am sure if yor Lorp can help him you shall not neede repent of it he is so honest a ministr. SOURCE:  The Ejected of 1662 in Cumberland and Westmorland. p. 890: 1645 Feb 28: Letter from Right Honrable Col. Benson NOTE: Given the uptick in the state of Rev. Richard’s financial health, BENSON’s intervention seems to have been effective.

It is most likely that the popish recusant, the man who had incurred the debt wth hopes to gayne him to or Church principall, was the Catholic landlord and advowson of the Whittington Parish. Was this loan a dodgy part of Rev. Richard attempting to buy the seat? Possibly. Also, given the timing, it is likely that his first wife, Dorothy OTWAY, died in childbirth shortly after giving birth to Roger JACKSON (1645-1682). He was baptized March 15, 1645.

The conflation of the roles of advowsons (the power to appoint priests) with that of landlords was long standing and had originated from the practice of landlords donating lands for parish churches, and then being granted certain powers as recompence. Of course, this custom became decidedly wobbly when the advowson held to a faith that diverged from the politically permitted faith of the time. In 1635, Thomas CARUS, the patron of Whittington, was one of those who had been convicted of recusancy; in this case he had refused to attend Established Church services.

As a consequence, all his lands & meanes [were] sequestered during the First English Civil War. A few decades later, his patronage of Whittington Parish was transferred to Edward MIDDLETON. This transfer seems to have been a work-around in the legal grey area and was later judged to have been collusive. [SEE: British History: Whittington].

Although the ownership of Established Church parishes by Catholic landlords was not common, neither was it unheard of. Power shapeshifts, as always, according to need. Under-the-table deals for privileges were not unheard of. When Edward MIDDLETON in his role as advowson on Oct. 6, 1640 had appointed Rev. Richard as cleric of Whittington, it seems likely that there had been some quid pro quo involved. As a consequence, eight months later, on June 12, 1641 Rev Richard had to be reappointed, this time by King Charles (1600-1649), by lapse, as a result of the earlier buying or selling (aka simony) of an ecclesiastical privilege, in this case a permanent Church appointment. NOTE: The 2^nd instance of simony mentioned in the table beneath was to Rev. Thomas BOUCHE (1654-1716) aka BOWTH, the husband of Vigesima JACKSON, Rev. Richard’s 20^th  living child. Her name was the Latin word for 20^th.

SOURCE: The History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster, Volume 2. edited by William Robert Whatton, John Harland, Brooke Herford

A sundial at the Parish bearing the inscription Ex dn. Ric. Jackson Rector de Whittington An. Dn. 1641 recorded the date of Rev. Richard’s 2^nd appointment to the Parish – the one by King Charles I, not his initial appointment by MIDDLETON. SOURCE: 'The parish of Whittington', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 8 (1914), pp. 241-252. I do not know if it still exists.

 ADDED April 1, 2025: The History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster, Volume 5. Edward Baines

 Five years later, on Oct 2, 1646, Rev. Richard was still the rector of Whittington when he subscribed and signed onto the protest of Lancashire ministers against toleration of strange doctrines. By now, he had skated deep into the Presbyterian camp, which may have reflected his personal leanings and/or the leanings of his congregation. Tellingly, he continued as rector.

The non-conformist's plea for uniformity : being the judgement of fourscore and four ministers of the county palatine of Lancaster, of a whole provincial assembly of ministers and elders in and about London, and of several other eminent preachers, English, Scottish and New-English, concerning toleration and uniformity in matters of religion : together with a resolution of this difficult question, whether the penalty of the law ought to be inflicted on those who pretend and plead conscience in opposition to what the law commands?

Two years later, in 1648, he was included as “Richard Jackson, pastor at Whittington” in the list of those who signed: The harmonious consent of the ministers of the province within the county palatine of Lancaster: with their reverend brethren the ministers of the province of London, in their late testimonie to the trueth of Jesus Christ, and to our Solemn League and Covenant : as also against the errours, heresies, and blasphemies of these times, and the toleration of them.

That this extraordinary document was subscribed by nearly all the presbyterian ministers of Lancashire can be explained only by supposing that they were frightened out of calm thought and wise consideration by the monstrous apparitions, which were rising on all sides and threatening their newly-established Church. The signs of the times were disastrous; the portents were such as neither they nor their fathers had ever seen before. [SOURCE: Lancashire: Its Puritanism and Nonconformity. Robert Halley]. p 263]

ADDED April 1, 2025: Lancashire Church Surveys 1650.

A lot of what was happening can not be reduced to any sharply defined polarities of white and black. The term Puritan often included Presbyterians and other dissenters (such as Quakers) and could apply to any denomination which committed to purify the Church of England of Papist practices. Presbyterians and other dissenters might in good conscience then choose to side with the Puritans but at the same time to maintain some of their Establishment Church alliances. One example of this would be John JACKSON b 1570 of Melsonby Yorkshire who was described as a Puritan but was also a known Royalist. [SOURCE: Alumni Cantabrigienses]. As was Rev. Richard:

JACKSON, RICHARD. Matric. pens, from CHRIST'S, July, 1619; B.A. 1622; M.A. 1626. R. of Halton, Lanes., 1630-41. R. of Whittington, 1641-80. A member of the Presbyterian Classis, but conformed at the Restoration. Will (Archd. Richmond) 1680. Father of Francis (1649), Leonard (1668) and William (1644-5). (yte. Hist, of Lancs., vm. 251; E. Axon.). SOURCE: Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates Cambridge Students list.

After the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, Rev. Richard continued on as the Parish minister at Whittington for two more decades. The bequests itemized in his 1679 January 15 will reveal the extent to which his theological skating skills had paid off financially. At the time of his death in 1681 at age 79, he not only owned leases to several parcels of land but also had a library valued at £40, debts owing to him worth £60, plus all kinds of livestock, hay, corn, flax, meal, malt, hemp and yarn, for a total valuation (seemingly not including land) of £326.6.0 (or about £40,000 in todays currency). Not surprisingly, given the future fortunes of his sons, he had profited from a range of enterprises. Specific gold coins were also described and bequeathed, and he may have been a collector. One was engraved: In Hoc Signe Vinces: In this sign you will conquer.

Source of Image: CoinQuest.

Another coin that likely held personal and religious meaning for him was a coin minted in the 1640s which was described in his will as: Angell of gold of King Charles the first this Coyne bearing his Standard on the one side of it with this inscription for the Protestant Religion of privilege of Parliament, and the liberty of the Subject with this model in ring or edges of it Vizt.  Exurgat Deus et Dissipentur Inimici . King Charles was the king to whom he had owed his reappointment in 1641, the time frame in which this coin was minted.

These coins were named after the Archangel St Michael who is depicted on the reverse slaying a dragon. They were legal tender but also used as healing amulets. It was believed that kings could cure people suffering from the ‘King’s Evil’ (scrofula), and Charles I performed healing ceremonies in which these coins were given to sufferers to wear around their necks. This coin is pierced so that when looking down the wearer would be able to see St Michael. SOURCE: Leeds Special Collections.

Although Rev Richard’s twenty-three children as well as dozens of their Irish descendants were generally regarded as Church of Ireland, many of them went on to align as Presbyterian (or both/and) when it suited and Church of Ireland when it didn’t - for example, one had to be Church of Ireland to be able to assume political office. Later, in the 1766 Religious census, a couple of JACKSONs in Co. Armagh – James & Owen - likely descendants of Rev. Richard - were even recorded as Catholic (perhaps as a result of marriage). In later years, the forenames of Catholic JACKSONs shapeshifted and names such as John became Sean and so on.

These shifting allegiances of faith and politics continued over the course of several generations in Ireland, not only amongst the mercantile-class families such as the JACKSONs, but also amongst the organizations to which they belonged, such as the Clothworkers Guild of Derry.

The Livery Companies were often viewed as a source of ready cash by the monarchy and during the political troubles of the seventeenth century they received many demands for money; in 1640 and 1641 alone these requests exceeded £10,000.  Unable to meet the King’s precepts, the Company was forced to borrow from individual members.  When Civil War erupted in 1642, further demands arrived, now from Parliament and the City. … During the Civil War, the Clothworkers sided with Parliament, as did the City – indeed, the Master of the Company in 1652-1653 was Alderman Sir John Ireton whose brother, Henry Ireton, had signed King Charles’ death warrant – however, the Company was quick to shift allegiances when required.  At the restoration of Charles II in 1660, they went to great effort to welcome the King into the City with suitable splendour. The Company’s trumpeter was lent to the Guildhall; six handsome, tall and able men were lent to serve the meat; £165 was given towards the cost of the banquet and members lined the streets in their finest attire with cloths, banners, streamers and ornaments resplendent around them. SOURCE: The Clothworkers Company Timeline.

Following on the heels of Rev. Richard, two of his sons became Church of England ministers: Francis JACKSON (1632-1670) & Leonard JACKSON (1650-1726), as did some of his grandsons and the husbands of two of his daughters (Rev. Thomas BOUCHE husband of Vigesima and Rev. John BRIGGS husband of Mary).

Later, in 1691, in keeping with the family tradition of staying connected to the church, Rev. Richard’s eldest son William JACKSON (1628-1688) – a merchant of Coleraine and MP for Londonderry in the Irish Parliament - contributed land for the church at Ardacleve (aka Articlave Lower Parish Dunboe, Barony Coleraine, Co. Londonderry) This transfer was witnessed by his younger brother Samuel JACKSON (1641-1706) who was mostly based in Dublin.  

St Paul’s Church was built to replace the ruin at Downhill. It is generally believed that Articlave village was the first settlement on the Clothworker Company Estate in 1611 and that the site was in all probability selected on account of the nearby river. When the ecclesiastical authorities had to consider the necessity of providing a new church for the parish it was natural that they should select the most advantageous position. A certain Captain Jackson gave a grant of one acre of land, and on this land the church was built. Bishop Hopkins gave the consent for the building of this church and Bishop King consecrated it on June 2nd, 1691. SOURCE: John Campbell on Flickr.

This inclination to be open to bridging the faith divide was also evidenced in the life of this Samuel JACKSON (1641-1706) of Dublin. After he had purchased several townlands in Co. Meath (lands forfeited in 1641 by the Catholic Royalist DRAKE family), he then leased the DRAKE lands back to the family on favourable terms. Not only was he welcome to visit the DRAKEs in their Co. Meath home, Drakerath, and stay for a few days with them, but he was also remembered for offering a 29 year old Peter DRAKE a connection to an East India merchant for a potential job opportunity, and just as importantly a green Purse with twenty Guineas in it. [SEE: Samuel Jackson - Gleanings of a Life.]

The Ireland-based children of Rev. Richard had benefitted from growing up in this Whittington Parish where their father as rector had Presbyterian leanings, the Parish itself was owned by a Catholic advowson and at the same time the church was theoretically branded Church of England. This kind of diversity in business and politics has long been recognized as one of the drivers of success. For Rev. Richard, it was part of what returned him to financial health after the worst of his 1645 crisis. Even though much of his shape-shifting may have been tainted by transactional motives and been bare-nakedly opportunistic, it did mean that he and his descendants had the head-set that enabled them to flourish for many more generations.

OTHER LINKS:
Earlier posts on my blog site explore other aspects of Rev. Richard JACKSON.

•          The Twenty Children of Rev Richard JACKSON
• The Dog that Didn't Bark

For his family tree see on my website:

• JACKSONs of Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland and Coleraine, Londonderry This branch of JACKSONs starts in Kirkby Lonsdale with William JACKSON (?-1626) and includes the JACKSONs who became successful merchants initially based in Coleraine, who participanted in the Siege of Derry, as who became representatives in the Irish House of Commons. Their behaviour was not always defensible by today's standards, or even by the standards of their own time. Theirs is also the family tree that leads to Richard JACKSON of Forkhill. 
• Daughters of Rev. Richard JACKSON.

SEE ALSO:

• ‘The public profession of the nation’: religious liberty and the English Church under Oliver Cromwell. Anne Hughes.
• Petitioning for the settling of the Church: The Lancashire and Cheshire Presbyterian
• campaign of 1646 and the politics of accommodation.
• The Restoration of the Church of England, 1660–1662: Ordination, Re-ordination and Conformity

 

Mrs. Elizabeth JACKSON née BUNTING

 The devil is in the details. True, but many details can be devilishly hard to nail down when key people, actions and perspectives have not been talked about for hundreds of years. For me, this is why the opening sentence in an article in the May 22, 1795 edition of The Times (London, Greater London, England) is significant: The late Parson Jackson, was twice married, and has left a wife to lament his unhappy end.  

The mention of women in a lead sentence in an article in that kind of newspaper? Rare. Typically, both wives are not named.

On April 30th, 1795, four days after the Court had found Parson Jackson aka Rev. William JACKSON (1737-1795) guilty of treason and collusion with the French (part of a United Irishmen plot to free Ireland from being under the yoke of English rule), Rev. William died of arsenic poisoning. At the moment when he collapsed and died, he was actually in Court and his lawyer was giving his summation. This was three weeks before this article was published, although none of this was mentioned, the writer, seemingly, had other, earlier, London-based grievances in mind. 

It is likely that Rev. William's 2nd wife secured the arsenic, likely at his request. It was reasonable for them to fear that the State would seize their shared assets once he was sentenced. Their only out, had he been sentenced to execution for treason, would have been if he was no longer alive when his sentence was finally pronounced. A nice legal wrinkle. An opportunity which was taken.

This much was known, that Jackson took poison with the idea that the little means he possessed would be preserved to his wife and children, if the sentence of the law was not pronounced on him, and that the party who was privy to this act must have well known the nature of the poison, for the time of its operation was evidently calculated on correctly. The United Irishmen: Their Lives and Times. Richard Robert Madden, The Shamrock edition, Newly Edited With Notes, Bibliography And Index By Vincent Fleming O’Reilly, The Catholic Publication Society 1916. p 186

The marriage documents for either of the two wives had long eluded researchers, but a few days ago, Laura McKenna, an author from Co. Cork (Words to Shape My Name), contacted me. It is thanks to her eagle eyes, that we finally have – indisputably – a record of the 2^nd marriage of Rev. William Francis JACKSON to Elizabeth BUNTING. This removes one layer of her invisibility.

Marriage at Saint George The Martyr: Borough High Street, Southwark, England Rev. William Jackson, Parish Fulham, Co. Middlesex, Widower and Elizabeth Bunting of this Parish spinster. married in this church by licence this Fifth Day of August in the year One Thousand seven Hundred and Ninety Two by me Thomas Wigrell Curate. This marriage was solemnized between Us: Wm. Francis Jackson; Elizabeth Bunting.

The signature in the marriage cert is a dead ringer for the signature on another document, signed in 1792, at the White Hotel in Paris. There can be no doubt that this is “our” Rev. William.

First page of the ‘Adresse des Anglais, des Ecossais et des Irlandais résidans et domiciliés à Paris’ to the Convention, presented on 25 November 1792. The address was part of a dialogue between the Société des Amis des Droits de l’Homme (SADH) and the French government about the possibility of an insurrection in Britain and/or Ireland in late 1792. Though the early Irish republicans did not get their wish, notably because of the astute policy of Pitt’s cabinet, their political activism between Dublin, Belfast, London and Paris shows that Irish republicanism grew alongside its French counterpart. (Archives Nationales, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine).

NOTE: Sylvie Kleinman, a Dublin historian and author, was the first to alert me to this signature in this Paris document. More recently, Ruari Nolan included it in one of his substack pieces: Address of the English, Scotch, and Irish resident and domiciled in Paris (1792). His piece included a link to the  source document by Mathieu Ferradou: ‘Un festin patriotique’ at White’s Hotel, 18 November 1792: the ‘secret’ origins of Irish revolutionary republicanism.  Published in 18th–19th - Century History, Features, Issue 3 (May/June 2016), Volume 24.

UPDATE March 30, 2025- I have used strike-through to identify my earlier errors. The birth date that I initially had of 1782 for Rev. William's son was the result of a typo. I have recently found compelling evidence that was born in 1792-1793. The implications of this will find its way into a later post.

It had long been assumed that Elizabeth was the mother of both of Rev. William’s children. This had led me (and others) to be looking in the wrong decade for a record of her marriage. This was because when Elizabeth had written to the French Government in 1802, as part of her repeated pleas for assistance, she had included the ages of her children. Given that, her son William would have been born about 1782, a decade before her 1792 marriage, a marriage in 1792 would not have made sense. Until it did. 

As a result of this marriage cert, I now see her in a new light,  starting on day one of her marriage as a stepmother. The content of these two letters reveal that she approached the care and protection of her stepson with as much tenacity and heart as any biological mother might have done.

Another aspect of Elizabeth’s life that this marriage cert reveals is that she and Rev. William Francis JACKSON had only been married for a couple of years when he was arrested. Added to this, there is another seemingly out-of-place wrinkle: a record from a mere three months after his death, that Elizabeth had given birth to a daughter: Louisa Mary, dau of Reverend William & Eliza Jackson of Dublin chr 27 Jul 1795 St Nicholas, Fyfield, Essex. But was she Rev. William’s daughter? After all, he was in jail during the likely time-frame of pregnancy, assuming a nine month gestation and a christening happening (as was the custom) not long after a birth.

There was probably the opportunity for conjugal visits at the Kilmainham jail. After all, security for people like Rev. William – political prisoners of his social standing - was often quite relaxed. William Drennan, in a letter to his sister Martha McTier, described Kilmainham jail as a much more roomy place [than Newgate jail] and where he [Archibald Hamiton Rowan] might in some time come to such good understanding with the goaler as to ride out as Reynolds [Dr. James Reynolds] did when he chose. At one time, although Rev. William ended up with accidental access to the keys to his cell, he chose not to escape. It troubled him that his jailer would have worn the blame, and hence the subsequent consequences.

NOTE:Between 1776 and 1819, William Drennan, a doctor in Newry and Dublin, and his sister Martha McTier in Belfast, exchanged over 1,400 letters, discussing every aspect of their lives. William campaigned for political reform and Roman Catholic emancipation. He was a founder of the United Irishmen, and was tried for sedition in 1794. Martha shared his political convictions and their letters provide a first-hand account of the events which led up to the 1798 Rebellion, and its aftermath. Their letters are an amazing source of information about a number of key players.

It seems that for the first six months of his incarceration, Rev. William had limited freedoms while in jail, but perhaps these restrictions were eased.

Friday, 7th November. 1794. Mr. Jackson.—My Lords, I have been six months confined in a single room. If I might be permitted occasionally, and that very seldom indeed, with the keeper of the prison, to walk in the yard early in the morning, I would be glad of it. Lord Clonmel, Chief-Justice.—The court cannot meddle with that. If you complain of oppression, we will interfere. The Lives and Trials of Archibald Hamilton Rowan, the Rev. William Jackson, the Defenders William Orr, Peter Finnerty.. Thomas MacNevin Esq. Dublin. 1846 p.199.

Drennan hints at a second angle to the question of the paternity of William jr: Mr. Tighe:

Oct 14, 1794. William Drennan [Dublin] to Martha McTier (Belfast] Curran went over to Holyhead, not to hire out a service, but merely for his health, and I have not seen him since his return. I dined a second time with him in his library, with a party as curious as the first. Dr. Burke, himself, myself, and Miss Jackson, wife to the Reverend. Jackson now guarded night and day by two sentinels in the very center of Newgate. She is a very comely, clever, tonish woman, said to be kept by Mr. Tigue, but Curran took up almost the whole conversation, with wit, like his meat, not rare but rather overdone. Never did this Marmozet of Genius show so many antic tricks, or so much bad mimicry, while the fair dame, who I believe had studied human nature as much as her entertainer, was forced to cry it out at intervals – Well - Mr. Curran, you are so vastly entertaining, though by the bye, I'm sure she did like him as little as it turned out, after she had gone away, that he liked her. Indeed, I do not think ever two figures of the same kind of beings were ever so astonishingly contrasted in form, face, and manners. If you ever saw this beautiful print of the Nightmare, you might see something like the contrast. The Drennan McTier Letters. Vol 2 1794-1801. ed Jean Agnew, 1999. Irish Manuscripts Commission, p 102

Henry Fuseli, The Nightmare, 1790-91 (Since a picture is worth 1,000 words)

It was John Philpott Curran, the lawyer representing Rev. William in his trial for treason who was skewered in William Drennan’s description. No wonder Elizabeth may have felt the need to pander to him, but it seems that she did so with an artful touch: the fair dame, who I believe had studied human nature as much as her entertainer. This letter also offers the only description I have found of how Elizabeth presented in social circles. As: a very comely, clever, tonish woman.

Given that Elizabeth was still fertile in 1795, she would likely have been at least a decade younger than Rev. William. We have no window into the state of their marriage, let alone whether they had any understandings concerning fidelity. All we know is that they got married during the time when he was on a clandestine trip from Paris to London in 1792.

Even though there are other references to Elizabeth having an affair, she continued to remain a key player in Rev. William’s trial and was financially supportive of him. While he passed his days in his jail cell, enjoying his bottles of claret and reflecting on his likely impending death, she was constantly out and about seeking testimony from witnesses and money to fund his trial.

Jackson’s trial comes on sennight, And one who might be supposed to know says he will be found guilty. This is McNally, who tells everything. He says that the poor man is in tolerable spirits after his bottle. In the evening, talks enthusiastically, tells stories of the equanimity with which they meet death. In France - of Charlotte Corday, coming on the scaffold as if she was going to begin an opera dance - of a mother and two daughters from La Vandée being guillotined, when the youngest daughter stepped forward and said that she was first to be introduced (I forget the French term), and of Hébert lifting up his head to tell one of the guards, your turn is coming, and if female and male aristocrats die so, should not I show myself a true man? Jackson. has at least a true woman in one sense, if she be not a faithful wife, for Mac says she has sold the near reversion of £1200 for £300 to fee lawyers and for other expenses The Drennan McTier Letters. Vol 2 1794-1801. ed Jean Agnew, 1999. Irish Manuscripts Commission, p. 107

 

Elizabeth’s loss of £900 in the value of what she had to sell amounts to the equivalent loss of about £173,409.19 today. Not an amount to be sniffed at. A second reference to her financial sacrifices may  refer to the same loss, or it may be to another property (the described one-tenth of its value would add up to more than a loss of £900):

FRIDAY, 7th November. 1794. The Court having sat, Mr. JACKSON was put to the bar, and the Sheriff of the city of Dublin was ordered to return his venire, which he did, and the Clerk of the Crown called it over. Mr. CURRAN.—This trial was appointed for this day. It is more becoming, not to wait to see whether the counsel for the crown will say anything as to putting off the trial, but to state how my client is circumstanced. He has been in goal for many months. He was arraigned last term, when he pleaded, and the court were pleased to appoint this day for his trial. All the interval he has employed in the most deliberate preparations for his defence. Though a native of this country, his life has been spent out of it. He sent his wife to England to attend upon such witnesses as he thought necessary for the trial. She spent part of the summer in England where an agent was employed, and Mr. Jackson himself sent another upon the same business. These circumstances are ready to be proved by affidavit. Mrs. Jackson remained in England some time, and came back to prepare for the necessary attendance. Some property, which was the joint property of both, has been sold for about one-tenth of its value, to defray the expense of bringing over witnesses, who cannot be compelled to attend by any process of this court, and therefore then demands must be complied with The Lives and Trials of Archibald Hamilton Rowan, the Rev. William Jackson, the Defenders William Orr, Peter Finnerty.. Thomas MacNevin Esq. Dublin. 1846 p.196.

Three affidavits were then sworn ; one by the prisoner, a second by his wife, a third by his agent, setting forth the endeavours which had been used to procure the attendance of witnesses, as stated by Mr. Curran. The Lives and Trials of Archibald Hamilton Rowan, the Rev. William Jackson, the Defenders William Orr, Peter Finnerty.. Thomas MacNevin Esq. Dublin. 1846 p.199.

The record for this joint property, if found, could lead to another major breakthrough in fleshing out this story, especially if it was part of a marriage jointure, or else if other family members were mentioned.

The longer lasting impact of Rev. William’s trial and death on Elizabeth becomes clear in 1802. This is when she is living in Paris, flat broke. She is feeling abandoned and is pleading with the French government for assistance. Her two letters, written  in French, but roughly translated by myself, are both on my website. Unsurprisingly, the paternity of both children is attributed to Rev. William. 

(Apologies for the rogue double spacing beneath)

Doctor Jackson, my husband is condemned to death for having served the French Government very well I pray [saisin = input?] and two young children are the sole heritage that I have been permitted to receive from him. Alarmed for their existence – I came to France, to reclaim the benefits that were given to me by the French Government, and it is to your Citizen Consul who I address my humble claims. I continue to hope that the one who dried up so many of my tears and stopped the heart of the other of misfortune take pity on the deplorable fate of a woman once so wealthy and now delivered to all the bitterness of such a terrible situation. I would have suffered in silence if I had only my misfortune to bear but seeing my two children without help and support is a torment that my heart cannot endure. I implore your justice and I am solicitating a place for my son, William Jackson age 13 years in the Prytanée de Paris where he can learn to cherish his Benefactor and a pension for sustaining my existence and for my daughter [age 7 years] The reply which was made in your name addressed to the Minister of Marine and that Minister referred me to that of External Affairs but my steps have all been unsuccessful and I have no more than a single hope. Allow me Citizen Consul to expose to your eyes a picture of my situation. Having consumed my [financial?] means after a stay of six months in Paris, I have come to a moment when it will be impossible to exist, and to be able to have my children exist. I have taught them the names of the heroes of France and my heart tells me that he will come to the rescue of their unhappy mother and cast a benevolent eye over her and them. Hotel of Paris Rue d la Roi 15 Sept 1802 I am Citizen Consul With the most profound respect your very humble and obedient servant, Eliza Jackson

We must end – for now – with the few crumbs of clues that we have have about Elizabeth JACKSON née BUNTING, but a few stray crumbs might yet lead to finding out more about Rev. William’s first wife, the likely mother of William jr. Such crumbs do not amount to the equivalent of a loaf of bread, but still …

In a 1766, JACKSON’s newspaper The Public Ledger, mentions a Luke NAYLOR as the brother-in-law of Rev William. This Luke NAYLOR was likely the solicitor, born in 1750, who lived at Halfmoon Street Piccadilly in London and who died in 1814. His wife was Anne FARRELL. In 1809, he wrote a will, leaving all to wife Anne, his executor. In his will, he mentions shares of a property in Ongar, in Co. Essex, as well as properties in Jamaica, the East Indies and Ireland. They are in his name and also in the names of William Burham, [one illegible person], William Ffarrell, Mary Ffarrall, Mary Shapcott, and Thomas Whitton. Several other friends are also mentioned, but the only mention of family is that of his wife.

The connection of Elizabeth JACKSON to this Luke NAYLOR becomes even stronger when we look at a map. Laura McKenna notes: It seems that Fyfield, where the Jackson's daughter was baptised in 1795, is only a few miles from both High Ongar and Chipping Ongar. So I think you are right about the Nailor/Naylor connection and that Eliza probably had the child baptised there on that account.

There is one more fact to add to the hunch of this connection. Some of the money spent on Rev. William’s defence, intended to cover witness costs, went to a Mr NAILOR, an English agent. It is likely that he was  Luke NAYLOR, the brother-in-law.

Mr. Curran.—A considerable sum of money was paid to defray their expenses, and certain matters of record are to be brought upon a security of £500 for their being returned. Mr. Nailor, an English agent, has them in his possession, and he was expected here by this time. He is a material witness, and his arrival with the others was expected:—they are not yet arrived. There appeared a paragraph in the English newspapers, that this trial was put off to the 21st instant. Mr. Jackson states that his witnesses might be led into error by this publication, which was made without any connivance, or privity of his. The Lives and Trials of Archibald Hamilton Rowan, the Rev. William Jackson, the Defenders William Orr, Peter Finnerty.. Thomas MacNevin Esq. Dublin. 1846 p 197.

Mr. Jackson.—My Lords, the impression I would wish to leave on this court is, that notwithstanding four months might appear sufficient for preparation, yet with the utmost exertion, I have not been prepared. Ten days after my trial was postponed, I put matters in arrangement; every exertion was used to bring over the witnesses and documents ; notices were served upon certain persons in England to produce certain documents, or correspondences relative to my conduct :—These have not been brought over, and the agent in England has been so grossly imposed upon, from the idea that the trial was put off, that he wrote to my wife that he would not come over, until he heard from me. Why this paragraph was put into the papers in England, and copied into the papers in this town, I cannot say. I never felt a greater disappointment in my life than in not being tried this day. The Lives and Trials of Archibald Hamilton Rowan, the Rev. William Jackson, the Defenders William Orr, Peter Finnerty.. Thomas MacNevin Esq. Dublin. 1846  p 198

The phrase the devil is in the details (attributed to Nietzsche) probably originates from the earlier phrase God is in the details, meaning that whatever one does, do it thoroughly. So, stay tuned. Perhaps this post will spark further discussion and insight. Perhaps the story might even get turned into a novel - another and sometimes higher kind of truth. For now, I am keeping my sights on Mr. Tighe. He and Elizabeth may have been living at Stephens Green. He also appears in one last bit of nearly contemporary history, but once again his forename was not included.

Jackson's funeral was well attended by numbers of the United Irishmen. Barrington says, " he had a splendid funeral, and, to the astonishment of Dublin, it was attended by several members of parliament, and barristers ! A Mr. Tighe, Counsellor Richard Guiness, (Sir Jonah might have added the two Sheareses, also members of the profession), were amongst them." It is unnecessary to remark, that Barrington was too consistent a patriot to be of the number of those who, as was said in the House of Commons,[ Debates of the Irish House of Commons, June, 1795] " paid the honours of treason" to the unfortunate Jackson. He is buried in the churchyard of St. Michan's, where also are interred the remains of Oliver Bond, and of Henry and John Sheares. The Lives and Trials of Archibald Hamilton Rowan, the Rev. William Jackson, the Defenders William Orr, Peter Finnerty.. Thomas MacNevin Esq. Dublin. 1846  p 185 NOTE: MacNevin's source for this was Personal sketches of his own time. Joseph Barrington 1827

LATE BREAKING NEWS.

Thanks to a recent email from Laura McKenna, we now know that in 1827 Elizabeth Jackson and her son were both living in Livorno, a port on the western shores of Italy. This reference (Laura thanks the work of Dr. Jennifer Orr for this source) was contained in a letter from Amelia Curran to David Baillie Warden (ex-United Irishman, American consul in Paris and a man with an incredible political and cultural correspondence):. I suppose you hear from the Jacksons sometimes. I went to Livorno to pay a visit two years since to Mrs Jackson. She seemed ill and was afterwards I understand much worse, her son was here but I did not meet him as he was married or almost as bad – alas. Where was her daughter? Was she still living? Living elsewhere? Married? More to learn.

UPDATE from Jan Waugh: March 29, 2025: This is from an earlier generation, but is worth putting a pin in: George Jackson (b 1692) from the London branch of Bristol Jackson's was living at Livorno (called Leghorn by the English). He married an Italian (Mary Giovanna Riminaldi) and was King's consul at Genoa. He is buried, with the Eagle/Hawk arms carved into the stone at the English cemetery. 

UPDATE SEE ALSO:  

• George JACKSON (1692-1763) of Livorno. 
• Also photos on Flickr from the "Old Protestant" Livorno cemetery. 
• Autograph letter signed : Livorno, Italy, to E. Jackson, [no year] July 26
• Earliest view of the (newly walled) Old English Cemetery of Livorno

In a subsequent email, Laura added a bit more information: Amelia Curran was an artist who painted Percy and Mary Shelley, and [she was] the daughter of John Philpot Curran, one of Jackson's defence lawyers in 1795. This strengthens the likelihood of their connection, but also reveals Elizabeth's continued connection with the diaspora of those connected decades earlier to The United Irishmen.

The fact that Elizabeth and her son were in Italy was referred to in my 2019 blog post, Rev. William Jackson & his Gore ancestry:  Rev. William Jackson’s only son. also named William (last sighted in Rome in 1739, age 49).  

That reference (which I hadn’t cited) came from The United Irishmen: Their Lives and Times. Richard Robert Madden, The Shamrock edition, Newly Edited With Notes, Bibliography And Index By Vincent Fleming O’Reilly, The Catholic Publication Society 1916. p 188. What became of the widow of Jackson I have never been able to learn, but in 1839 Dr. M’Neven informed me that there was a son of his then residing in Rome, NOTE: Richard Robert Madden was born in 1798, and his book was originally published in 1857, so he was not a contemporary witness. It is likely that Elizabeth was no longer alive when he was doing his research. Also, since he was known for a certain laxity in citing sources, and destroyed some of his research documents, it is always reassuring to find additional confirmation of his claims.

As always, with research like this, it takes a village. In this case, it is mostly a village of women.

For my earlier related posts, see:

•            Rev. William Jackson & his Gore ancestry2019
•  Dr. Richard JACKSON (abt 1720-abt1768) and the SALEs.2019
• Rev. William JACKSON - Dead Ends Blog #12019
• Hyde’s Coffee Shop 2019
• Documents relating to the ancestry of Rev. William JACKSON.2019
• Richard Jackson father of Rev. William JACKSON (1737-1795)2021
• The wives of Rev. William Jackson (1737-1795)2021
• Rev William Francis JACKSON 2023