John J. Jennings (1848-1919) was born in Southwark, and thought to have been trained at the Lambeth Art School. He described himself in the 1881 census as "Draughtsman for painted glass," and had a stained glass workshop at 118 Clapham Road, Fulham, and later at 96 Clapham Road ("Artists and Architects"). His work dates from at least 1878, and his practice has been described as one of those which "flourished especially in south-east Wales" (Newman 63). He is also known to have done some restoration work at St Michael's Mount in Cornwall. His later windows have been characterised as "overworked Germanic" in style, "with heavy canopy work" (Newman 285). One of his outside designers was E. A. F. Prynne.
John Jennings's great-granddaughter, Marilyn Madigan, has kindly provided some of our information about him. She is the daughter of his son Harry John Jennings, and recalls being told that Jennings moved to Wales after his first wife died, taking with him (and then, to his children's dismay, marrying) his much younger housekeeper. Marilyn recalls meeting this second wife, then in her eighties, at Jennings' family reunions at her family home in Ramsgate. Marilyn has recently had one of Jennings's pieces, from the Ramsgate house, set in a door in her present home in Australia. — Jacqueline Banerjee
Works
- The Pharmacist Window, St Cybi, Holyhead, Angelsey
- Bird amid Blossom (rondel, domestic glass design)
- Bird Pecking Hazlenuts (rondel, companion piece)
- Spring, with a Rondel of a Robin Feeding Its Young in the Nest
Bibliography
Architects and Artists IJK. Sussex Parish Churches. Web. 26 February 2023.
"John J. Jennings (1848-1919)." Gwydir Lliw Nghymru: Stained Glass in Wales. Web. 29 October 2015.
Newman, John. Gwent/Monmouthshire: The Buildings of Wales. London: Penguin / University of Wales, 2000.
Created 29 October 2015
Last modified 26 February 2023 (information added and link updated)