John David Jenkins

John David Jenkins (30 January 1828 – 9 November 1876) was a Welsh clergyman and historian. He spent six years ministering in Pietermaritzburg; after his return to England, he became known as the "Rail men's Apostle" for his work with railway workers in Oxford. He was Vice-President, and then President, of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. He also wrote a book on the history of the church.

Life Jenkins was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan on 30 January 1828. His father, William David Jenkins, could allegedly trace his ancestry back to Iestyn ap Gwrgant, the last Prince of Morgannwg. He studied Literae Humaniores, obtaining a third-class BA degree in 1850. The fellowship was a King James II Missionary Fellowship, under the terms of which Jenkins was required to become ordained and "proceed to such one of Her Majesty's plantations as the Bishop of London, for the time being, might appoint."

Portrait The portrait of Jenkins by Holman Hunt from 1852 commissioned by Thomas Combe, entitled New College Cloisters, now hangs in the Senior Common Room at Jesus College. The robes worn by Jenkins are those of a High Church priest, including black silk worn over the surplice (a revival of a pre-Reformation tradition). The setting, the cloisters of New College, Oxford, has been said to give "monastic undertones" to the picture, with the overall effect that "suggested a Gothic feel wholly in keeping with contemporary Tractarian philosophy" – Hunt and Jenkins both being supporters of the Oxford Movement.