Jemmy Wood
Encyclopedia
James Wood (7 October 1756 - 20 April 1836) was the owner of the Gloucester Old Bank
who became nationally known as The Gloucester Miser. His wealth of around £900,000 was stated at the time to have made him the richest commoner in His Majesty's dominions.
in Westgate Street, Gloucester
on 19 October 1756. He was the third child and only son of Richard and Elizabeth Wood and he attended either Sir Thomas Rich's School
or The King's School
.
when many other banks went out of business. It operated from Jemmy's drapery shop in Westgate Street, Gloucester
and Jemmy's practice was to offer no interest on deposits of less than one year. The whole bank was believed to have consisted of just Jemmy and two clerks. On the counter were nailed counterfeit coins as a warning to customers not to try and pass them off on the bank. The bank was taken over by the County of Gloucestershire Banking Company in 1838, which eventually became part of Lloyds Bank in 1897.
Jemmy also owned an undertaking business and extensive land in and around the City of Gloucester.
Supposedly, he visited Gloucester Docks to fill his pockets with small pieces of coal that fell off the boats being unloaded there, and wore the same old clothes for years on end. It is also said that on a journey to London, a fellow traveller made fun of Jemmy's ragged clothing but Jemmy bet him £5 that he could withdraw £100,000 from the bank on his arrival in the city. The fellow passenger did not believe him but when Jemmy was able to show that he could do just that, his travelling companion was forced to hand over the £5.
Jemmy was renowned for walking everywhere rather than paying the cost of a carriage. One story records that once he travelled back to Gloucester from Tewkesbury in the back of a passing hearse, laid out in the space usually reserved for the deceased. His miserliness and wealth brought him national fame with Toby Jugs and a Staffordshire figure
being created based on him. His profile of protruding chin and nose, and sloping forehead, made him prime fodder for caricatures.
The accusations of miserliness may have had a basis in fact but from his journals it is evident that Jemmy was not a recluse and that he took a full part in the activities of the city.
may have been inspired by the stories about the Gloucester Miser to create the character of Ebenezer Scrooge
in A Christmas Carol
. A character by the name of Dismal Jemmy appears in The Pickwick Papers
and Jemmy Wood of Gloucester is mentioned in Our Mutual Friend
. It has also been speculated that the court case of Jarndyce vs Jarndyce in Bleak House
may have been based on the case that arose following irregularities in Wood's Will, although the court system of the time was so slow and expensive that there are a number of other possible cases on which Jarndyce could just as easily have been based.
in Gloucester where there is a gravestone to his memory in the chancel. The crowd at his funeral reportedly "...evinced a levity of demeanor inconsistent with the solemnity of the occasion" and his coffin was said to have been stoned.
Problems over his Will lead to a long court case that soaked up much of the funds in the estate. Jemmy never married and had no children. He left around £900,000 to be shared equally between Sir Matthew Wood, John Chadborn (Solicitor), Jacob Osborne and John S. Surman, who were also his executors. A damaged codicil was found that left money to the City of Gloucester and to other beneficiaries and it was wrangling over the authenticity of the codicil that caused the settlement of the estate to be delayed. Chadborn hanged himself in 1839 and the obituary notice in The Gentleman's Magazine noted that since Wood's death, Chadborn's attention had "...been almost wholly engrossed with the proceedings consequent upon the disputed validity of the will."
Gloucester Old Bank
The Gloucester Old Bank was founded in 1716 by James Wood. The bank was said to have been the oldest private bank in Britain, having survived the financial consequences of the Napoleonic Wars when many other banks went out of business. The claim was wrong as both C. Hoare & Co and Child & Co...
who became nationally known as The Gloucester Miser. His wealth of around £900,000 was stated at the time to have made him the richest commoner in His Majesty's dominions.
Early life
Jemmy was born on 7 October 1756 and baptised at St Nicholas' ChurchSt Nicholas' Church, Gloucester
St Nicholas' Church, Gloucester, is a redundant Anglican church in Westgate Street in the city of Gloucester, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. Its truncated spire is a landmark in the...
in Westgate Street, Gloucester
Westgate, Gloucester
The Westgate area of Gloucester is centred on Westgate Street, one of the four main streets of Gloucester and one of the oldest parts of the city.-Notable buildings:...
on 19 October 1756. He was the third child and only son of Richard and Elizabeth Wood and he attended either Sir Thomas Rich's School
Sir Thomas Rich's School
Sir Thomas Rich's School is a grammar school for boys and girls in Longlevens, Gloucester, England, locally known as "Tommies"...
or The King's School
The King's School, Gloucester
The King's School, Gloucester is an independent school in the United Kingdom, taking students from the ages of 3-18, with around 500 students. The current Headmaster is Alastair Macnaughton.- Origins :...
.
Gloucester Old Bank
Jemmy inherited the bank from his grandfather who had founded it in 1716. The bank was said to have been one of the oldest private banks in Britain, having survived the financial consequences of the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
when many other banks went out of business. It operated from Jemmy's drapery shop in Westgate Street, Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
and Jemmy's practice was to offer no interest on deposits of less than one year. The whole bank was believed to have consisted of just Jemmy and two clerks. On the counter were nailed counterfeit coins as a warning to customers not to try and pass them off on the bank. The bank was taken over by the County of Gloucestershire Banking Company in 1838, which eventually became part of Lloyds Bank in 1897.
Jemmy also owned an undertaking business and extensive land in and around the City of Gloucester.
The Gloucester Miser
There are numerous stories of Jemmy's miserliness, but it is unclear how many are true.Supposedly, he visited Gloucester Docks to fill his pockets with small pieces of coal that fell off the boats being unloaded there, and wore the same old clothes for years on end. It is also said that on a journey to London, a fellow traveller made fun of Jemmy's ragged clothing but Jemmy bet him £5 that he could withdraw £100,000 from the bank on his arrival in the city. The fellow passenger did not believe him but when Jemmy was able to show that he could do just that, his travelling companion was forced to hand over the £5.
Jemmy was renowned for walking everywhere rather than paying the cost of a carriage. One story records that once he travelled back to Gloucester from Tewkesbury in the back of a passing hearse, laid out in the space usually reserved for the deceased. His miserliness and wealth brought him national fame with Toby Jugs and a Staffordshire figure
Staffordshire Potteries
The Staffordshire Potteries is a generic term for the industrial area encompassing the six towns that now make up Stoke on Trent in Staffordshire, England....
being created based on him. His profile of protruding chin and nose, and sloping forehead, made him prime fodder for caricatures.
The accusations of miserliness may have had a basis in fact but from his journals it is evident that Jemmy was not a recluse and that he took a full part in the activities of the city.
Gloucester City
Jemmy never appeared in lists of city benefactors and despite serving as City Sheriff for 1811 and 1813, and as an Alderman from 1820 until his death, it is thought that he never became Mayor because the expense of the job was too great for him to bear. He was not averse to spending other people's money however. In 1818, 47 people dined at the city's expense at a dinner given for the Duke of Gloucester at which they ate a turtle weighing 150 lbs given to the city by Lord Howard.In fiction
Charles DickensCharles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
may have been inspired by the stories about the Gloucester Miser to create the character of Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge is the principal character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge is a cold-hearted, tight-fisted and greedy man, who despises Christmas and all things which give people happiness...
in A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
. A character by the name of Dismal Jemmy appears in The Pickwick Papers
The Pickwick Papers
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club is the first novel by Charles Dickens. After the publication, the widow of the illustrator Robert Seymour claimed that the idea for the novel was originally her husband's; however, in his preface to the 1867 edition, Dickens strenuously denied any...
and Jemmy Wood of Gloucester is mentioned in Our Mutual Friend
Our Mutual Friend
Our Mutual Friend is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining psychological insight with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life" but is also about human...
. It has also been speculated that the court case of Jarndyce vs Jarndyce in Bleak House
Bleak House
Bleak House is the ninth novel by Charles Dickens, published in twenty monthly installments between March 1852 and September 1853. It is held to be one of Dickens's finest novels, containing one of the most vast, complex and engaging arrays of minor characters and sub-plots in his entire canon...
may have been based on the case that arose following irregularities in Wood's Will, although the court system of the time was so slow and expensive that there are a number of other possible cases on which Jarndyce could just as easily have been based.
Death
Jemmy died in 1836 and was buried in St Mary de Crypt ChurchSt Mary de Crypt Church
St Mary de Crypt Church, Southgate Street, Gloucester GL1, is an Anglican house of worship, which was first recorded in 1140 as The Church of the Blessed Mary within Southgate. It is in the Diocese of Gloucester and is located adjacent to the ruins of Greyfriars. It has also been known as Christ...
in Gloucester where there is a gravestone to his memory in the chancel. The crowd at his funeral reportedly "...evinced a levity of demeanor inconsistent with the solemnity of the occasion" and his coffin was said to have been stoned.
Problems over his Will lead to a long court case that soaked up much of the funds in the estate. Jemmy never married and had no children. He left around £900,000 to be shared equally between Sir Matthew Wood, John Chadborn (Solicitor), Jacob Osborne and John S. Surman, who were also his executors. A damaged codicil was found that left money to the City of Gloucester and to other beneficiaries and it was wrangling over the authenticity of the codicil that caused the settlement of the estate to be delayed. Chadborn hanged himself in 1839 and the obituary notice in The Gentleman's Magazine noted that since Wood's death, Chadborn's attention had "...been almost wholly engrossed with the proceedings consequent upon the disputed validity of the will."
Further reading
- Savory, Charles H. Life and Anecdotes of Jemmy Wood, the eccentric banker, merchant and draper, of Gloucester. Also an account of the remarkable trial with reference to his will.. London & Cirencester: Kent & Co., 1883.