Jennings, John (d. 1723), elder brother of the above, succeeded his father as independent minister at Kibworth, where from 1715 he conducted a nonconformist academy. His most distinguished student was Philip Doddridge [q. v.]; others were Sir John Cope [q. v.] and John Mason [q. v.], the writer on ‘Self-Knowledge.’ The four years' course of study is fully described by Doddridge (Correspondence, 1829, ii. 462 sq.), who testifies to his tutor's thoroughness of method and liberality of spirit. Doddridge took Jennings's theological lectures as the basis of his own. In July 1722 Jennings became minister of the presbyterian congregation at Hinckley, Leicestershire, and removed his academy to that town, where a new meeting-house was immediately built for him. Next year he fell a victim to small-pox. He died at Hinckley on 8 July 1723. He was twice married, his second wife being Anna Letitia, daughter of Sir Francis Wingate, by Anne, daughter of Arthur Annesley, first earl of Anglesey [q. v.] He left four children, Arthur, John, Francis, and Jane. John, ‘the wit of Doddridge's academy,’ was minister (ordained 12 Aug. 1742) at St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, and quitted the ministry about 1756 from a failure of speech. Jane married John Aikin (1713–1780) [q. v.], and became the mother of Anna Letitia Barbauld [q. v.] Jennings was a man of abler and more original mind than his brother David; his early death, involving the suspension of his academy, was felt as a serious blow to the dissenting interest in the midlands.
He published: 1. ‘Miscellanea in usum Juventutis Academicæ,’ &c., Northampton, 1721, 8vo (a most interesting handbook to the studies of his academy). 2. ‘Logica in usum,’ &c., Northampton, 1721, 8vo (includes a crude system of phonetic shorthand). 3. ‘A Genealogical Table of the Kings of England,’ &c. Posthumous was 4. ‘Two Discourses,’ &c., 1723, 8vo (preface by Isaac Watts); 4th edition, 1754, 8vo. These discourses were academical lectures on preaching; they were recommended by two bishops at their visitations, and were translated into German.
[Life and Writings of David Jennings, by J. T., i.e. Joshua Toulmin, in Protestant Dissenter's Magazine, 1798, pp. 81 sq., 121 sq.; Calamy's Continuation, 1727, i. 514; Monthly Repository, 1808 p. 364, 1820 p. 54; Wilson's Dissenting Churches of London, 1810, iii. 174; Memoir of Neal prefixed to Hist. of Puritans, 1822, i. p. xxxiii; Bogue and Bennett's Hist. of Dissenters, 1833, ii. 218, 519; James's Hist. Litig. Presb. Chapels, 1867, p. 691; Le Breton's Memoir of Mrs. Barbauld, 1874, p. 6; Martin's Memories of Seventy Years, 1883, pp. 10 sq.; Jeremy's Presbyterian Fund, 1885, pp. 13, 14, 41, 51; manuscript account of Hinckley congregation.]
JENNINGS, FRANCES (d. 1730). [See under Talbot, Richard, Duke of Tyrconnel.]
JENNINGS, HARGRAVE (1817?–1890), miscellaneous writer, born about 1817, contributed at the age of fifteen an anonymous series of sea-sketches to the ‘Metropolitan Magazine,’ then under the editorship of Captain Marryat. For many years he acted as secretary to Colonel Mapleson in the management of the Italian Opera. It is supposed that he was the original of the character of Ezra Jennings in Wilkie Collins's story, ‘The Moonstone.’ He died on 11 March 1890 at the residence of his brother, Mr. F. W. Jennings, Ambassadors' Court, St. James's Palace.
Jennings claimed to be the first explorer in various fields of occult learning. His writings include: 1. ‘My Marine Memorandum Book,’ a collection of marine sketches, 3 vols. 12mo, London, 1845. 2. ‘The Ship of Glass; or, the Mysterious Island; a Romance,’ with ‘Atcherley,’ a novel, 3 vols. 12mo, London, 1846. 3. ‘The Opera; or, Views before and Peeps behind the Curtain,’ 8vo, London, 1847. 4. ‘St. George, a Miniature Romance,’ 8vo, London, 1853. 5. ‘Pebblestones by Peregrine, edited by H. Jennings,’ 8vo, London, 1853. 6. ‘The Indian Religions; or, Results of the Mysterious Buddhism, by an Indian Missionary’ [anon.], 12mo, London, 1858; another edit. 1890. 7. ‘War in London; or, Peace in London. Remonstrance addressed to the People of England,’ 8vo, London, 1859. 8. ‘Curious Things of the Outside World. Last Fire,’ 2 vols. 12mo, London, 1861. 9. ‘The Rosicrucians, their Rites and Mysteries; with Chapters on the Ancient Fire-and Serpent-Worshippers,’ 8vo, London, 1870; other editions 1879, and 2 vols. 1887. The book originally occupied twenty years in composition, from 1850 to 1870. 10. ‘Live Lights or Dead Lights: (Altar or Table?),’ 8vo, London, 1873, written in conjunction with two members of the church of England. 11. ‘One of the Thirty: a Strange History, now for the first time told … edited by H. Jennings,’ 8vo, London (1873), a story of the thirty pieces of silver received by Judas for the betrayal of Jesus. 12. ‘The Obelisk: Notices of the Origin, Purpose, and History of Obelisks,’ 8vo, London, 1877. 13. ‘The Childishness and Brutality of the Time: some plain truths in plain language: supplemented by …
