Richard Jukes
Encyclopedia
Primitive Methodism
Primitive Methodism was a major movement in English Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union in 1932. The Primitive Methodist Church still exists in the United States.-Origins:...
and hymn writer.
Rev. Richard Jukes
This article provides a brief biography, and a summary of his work as a popular Minister and hymn writer during the first half-century of Primitive MethodismPrimitive Methodism
Primitive Methodism was a major movement in English Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union in 1932. The Primitive Methodist Church still exists in the United States.-Origins:...
Biography
Richard Jukes was born on 9 October 1804 at Goat Hill, and died 10 August 1869. He served as a Primitive Methodist Minister from 1827 to 1859. Jukes married Phoebe Pardoe in 1825, and later, widowed, he married Charlotte.Circuits
- 1827 – Hopton Bank
- 1828 – BrinkworthBrinkworthBrinkworth could be*Brinkworth, South Australia*Brinkworth, Wiltshire, UK...
- 1829 – Brinkworth (6 months)
- 1829 – MotcombeMotcombeMotcombe is a village in north Dorset, England, situated in the Blackmore Vale half way between the market towns of Gillingham and Shaftesbury. The village has a population of 1,404 ....
(6 months) - 1830 – PillowellPillowell-Description:Pillowell sits on the south-eastern edge of the Forest of Dean. Its coordinates are 51.75° N 02.55° W. It is located 0.6 miles to the east of Whitecroft and 0.6 miles to west of Yorkley, and was established as a mining village....
- 1831 – SalisburySalisburySalisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
- 1832 – BirminghamBirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
- 1833 – NottinghamNottinghamNottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
- 1834 – RamsorRamsorThe tiny hamlet of Ramsor in North Staffordshire played a significant part in the origins of Primitive Methodism. Listed in the Domesday Book as Ramshorn, this ancient hamlet is a typical example of the depopulation of the countryside. Very little now remains of this village apart from a few...
- 1838 – DarlastonDarlastonDarlaston is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England.-History:Archaeological evidence of the history of Darlaston has been destroyed by The de Darlaston family owned Darlaston and lived in the manor between the 12th century and 15th century. When the de...
- 1842 – TunstallTunstall, StaffordshireTunstall is an area in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was one of the original six towns that federated to form the city. Tunstall is the most northern town of the city of Stoke-on-Trent....
- 1845 – CongletonCongletonCongleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Dane, to the west of the Macclesfield Canal and 21 miles south of Manchester. It has a population of 25,750.-History:The first settlements in...
- 1846 – DudleyDudleyDudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
- 1849 – Darlaston
- 1851 – Brierley HillBrierley HillBrierley Hill is a town and electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England. It is one of the larger Black Country towns with a population of 9,631 and is heavily industrialised, best known for glass and steel manufacturing, although the industry has declined...
- 1853 – CoventryCoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
- 1855 – West BromwichWest BromwichWest Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...
- 1859 – West Bromwich (retired)
Work as a Minister
While Richard Jukes left his mark in Kendall's history as a hymn writer, his work as a Minister was widely appreciated. It is noteworthy that, after a number of appointments where he would have been the junior, Jukes was appointed to three of the most significant CircuitsMethodist Circuit
The Methodist Circuit is part of the organisational structure of British Methodism,or at least those branches derived from the work of John Wesley. It is a group of individual Societies or local Churches under the care of one or more Methodist Ministers. In the scale of organisation, the Circuit...
of that time. Tunstall, Staffordshire
Tunstall, Staffordshire
Tunstall is an area in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was one of the original six towns that federated to form the city. Tunstall is the most northern town of the city of Stoke-on-Trent....
was the place of origin of Primitive Methodism
Primitive Methodism
Primitive Methodism was a major movement in English Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union in 1932. The Primitive Methodist Church still exists in the United States.-Origins:...
and Ramsor
Ramsor
The tiny hamlet of Ramsor in North Staffordshire played a significant part in the origins of Primitive Methodism. Listed in the Domesday Book as Ramshorn, this ancient hamlet is a typical example of the depopulation of the countryside. Very little now remains of this village apart from a few...
had been almost as significant. Darlaston
Darlaston
Darlaston is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England.-History:Archaeological evidence of the history of Darlaston has been destroyed by The de Darlaston family owned Darlaston and lived in the manor between the 12th century and 15th century. When the de...
was very much the leading light in the Black Country
Black Country
The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...
. Jukes spent a large part of his active ministry in The Black Country and retired there.
Hugh Bourne
Hugh Bourne
Hugh Bourne was the joint founder of Primitive Methodism, the largest offshoot of Wesleyan Methodism and, in the mid nineteenth century, an influential Protestant Christian movement in its own right.- Early life :...
reveals a special interest in Ramsor in his writings in The Primitive Methodist Magazine
Primitive Methodist Magazine
The Primitive Methodist Magazine was the monthly magazine of the Primitive Methodist Church in Britain, spanning just over a century. From 1820, the Magazine was edited by Hugh Bourne, who printed the magazine at Bemersley Farm about 2 miles from Mow Cop. Production was moved to London in 1843...
, through the way he illustrates articles with anecdotes of Ramsor people.
Hymns
Holliday Bickerstaffe Kendall says of Richard Jukes, “although he was a prolific and popular hymn-writer of his day, is in some danger of being forgotten.” The major biography of Jukes has the title “Poet of a Million”, reflecting this claim to fame. Kendall also says, “Jukes’ hymns have been sung from one end of the ConnexionMethodist Circuit
The Methodist Circuit is part of the organisational structure of British Methodism,or at least those branches derived from the work of John Wesley. It is a group of individual Societies or local Churches under the care of one or more Methodist Ministers. In the scale of organisation, the Circuit...
to the other, by tramps in the street and Christians in the chapels; and the late Dr. Massie says, the hymn entitled “What’s the news,” &co., has been sung and repeated in the great Revival in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.”
Hymn tunes
Part of the genius of Richard Jukes the hymn writer was his ability (shared with other Primitive Methodists including Henry Higginson ) to use the best popular melodies of his time. A contemporary account by a Jonathan Ireland in LancashireLancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
will be useful to researchers into 19th century hymns.
Before the Primitive Methodists came to this city (ManchesterManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
), and for some time after, it was very common to hear lewd or ribald songs sung in the streets, especially on the Lord’s day. But our movements drove them away by putting something better in their place. We used to pick up the most effective tunes we heard, and put them to our hymns; and at our camp meetings people, chiefly young ones, used to run up to hear us, thinking we were singing a favourite song. But they were disappointed therein; nevertheless, they were arrested and often charmed by the hymn, which at times went with power to their hearts. And so the words of the hymn put aside the words of the song. It will show the utility of singing lively hymns in the streets; yea, more particularly, it will show the use to society in general of our hymn singing in the streets, if I here relate a fact which was told me by a friend on whose veracity and accuracy I can place reliance. He said : “I was one day in a hair-dresser’s shop in a country village, when a man came in to be shaved, having a handful of printed hymns, which he had been singing and selling in the streets. I entered into conversation with him, in course of which he said : “Your Jukes has been a good friend to us street-singers; I have sung lots of his hymns, and made many a bright shilling thereby. People generally would rather hear a nice hymn sung, than a foolish song, – and his hymns are full of sympathy and life. Depend on it, the singing of hymns in the streets has done a good deal of good ; for children stand to listen to us, and they get hold of a few lines, or of the chorus ; and with the tune, or as much of it as they can think of, they run home, and for days they sing it in their homes, and their mothers and sisters get hold of it, and in this way, I maintain, our hymn-singing is of more use than many folks think. I shall always think well of Jukes,” concluded the man.
The hymn "Christ for me"
Much of Jukes’ output seems to have been published in special collections. Unfortunately, his writing was not used in many hymn books, and the only hymn to have survived in common use is “Christ for me”. Even this was not used in the 1882 Primitive Methodist Hymnal, but only in the 1911 Supplement. As an example of Jukes' hymns, here is the version used in the 1911 Supplement. Other verses have been sung.My heart is fixed eternal God,
Fixed on Thee : Fixed on Thee :
And my immortal choice is made :
Christ for me.
He is my Prophet, Priest and King,
Who did for me salvation bring ;
And while I’ve breath I mean to sing :
Christ for me. Christ for me.
2 In Him I see the Godhead shine ;
Christ for me. Christ for me.
He is the Majesty Divine ;
Christ for me.
The Father’s well-beloved Son,
Co-partner of His royal throne,
Who did for human guilt atone ;
Christ for me. Christ for me.
3 Let others boast their heaps of gold;
Christ for me. Christ for me.
His riches never can be told ;
Christ for me.
Your gold will waste and wear away,
Your honours perish in a day ;
My portion never can decay ;
Christ for me. Christ for me.
4 In pining sickness or in health,
Christ for me. Christ for me.
In deepest poverty or wealth,
Christ for me.
And in that all-important day,
When I the summons must obey,
And pass from this dark world away,
Christ for me. Christ for me.
R. Jukes