James 'Owd Jemmy' Jenkinson (1786-1874)
James 'Owd Jemmy' Jenkinson was the son of John Jenkinson and Hannah Simpson.
James was born in about 1786, in Kirkland.
He was locally known as 'Owd Jemmy' in later life.
On the 6th June 1808, at St Helen's Church, Churchtown, James married Ellen Fisher, the daughter of James Fisher and Ellen Whitehead.
Ellen was born on the 24th January 1791, and was christened on 27th February 1791, at Walton-le-Dale.
Following their marriage, James and Ellen lived in an old cottage on Longmore Lane, Nateby.
James had had a small amount of land of his own, but he lost it by enclosure on the part of John Corless, who owned and farmed Eskham House, Skitham Lane, Out Rawcliffe. As 'compensation', John Corless gave James employment.
James, however, was a sturdy type, who liked to have his own land, and he decided to try again, this time on the Pilling side of the great Moss.
So, in about 1813 or 1814, together with Joseph Isles (or Hoyles), James moved to and founded the hamlet of Eagland Hill, Pilling.
James walked all the way from Churchtown, near Garstang, every night after he had finished work, and built his cottage from clay, which he carried a basket-load at a time from the nearest source.
James's cottage can be seen in the photograph on the right, with two of his children standing outside.
He and his family then began to reclaim the surrounding Moss land.
See Eagland Hill Pioneers for further details.
It is said that soon after the completion of his cottage, James was conscripted for the Napolionic War and went to train in the South of England. But luckily for James, the Battle of Waterloo brought an end to the War and he returned to Eagland Hill without ever seeing action.
By 1841, James and Ellen had moved from their small clay cottage to live at Birks Farm, Eagland Hill, farming 90 acres of land.
Sometime between 1851 and 1861, James's 90 acres of farmland was divided. James and his son William farmed 45 acres, James's son Thomas farmed 13 acres, his son Richard farmed 14 acres, and his son-in-law William Armstrong farmed 15 acres. James, Ellen and their son William continued to live at Birks Farm following the division of the farmland.
Ellen Jenkinson died, aged 65 years, on the 28th February 1856, at Birks Farm, and was buried at St Helen's Church, Churchtown, on the 4th March 1856.
Owd Jemmy was a great Churchman.
When he had become established, somebody asked him why he had chosen to go to live at such an outlandish place as "th hill".
"Outlandish?" said Owd Jemmy. "I'll tell tha what - there'll be a church here afoor I dee".
And there was, too; Jemmy had the pleasure of laying the foundation stone of Eagland Hill’s mission church of St Mark on the 13th August 1869.
The altar of St Mark's Church lies on the site of the hearth of James's first small cottage.
By 1871, Owd Jemmy had retired, but he continued to live at Birks Farm with his son William and his family.
Jemmy died at Birks Farm, aged 88 years, on 17th November 1874.
There was deep snow at the time of Owd Jemmy's death, and it was not possible to transport his body to Churchtown to be buried at St Helen's Church with his wife Ellen.
Jemmy was buried at St John the Baptist Church, Pilling, on 20th November 1874.
The memory of Owd Jemmy lives on in St Mark's Church, Eagland Hill, where there is a memorial stained glass window depicting a farmer sowing his seeds, which was erected behind the altar by his family.
James and Ellen Jenkinson had the following fourteen children:
Margaret 'Peggy' Jenkinson (1814-1892)
Elizabeth 'Betsy' Jenkinson (1816-1879)
Richard Jenkinson (1821-1821)
Richard was born in 1821, and died soon after birth.
He was buried on the 21st July 1821, at St Helen's Church, Churchtown.
Nancy Jenkinson (-)
Nothing is known of Nancy's life other than an entry in James Jenkinson's Notebook between his children Richard and Isabella. There was no record of a birth date or a death date.