Jenkin Thomas Philipps, Every Inch a Welshman and a Poet Moreover. (1st December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Toorians, Lauran
• Is Part Of: Studia Celtica. Volume 56:Number 1(2022)
• Page Start: 107
• Page End: 122
• Publication Date: 2022-12-01
• Subjects: Celtic philology -- Periodicals; Philologie celtique -- Périodiques; Celtic philology; Celtic literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Civilization, Celtic -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 491.605
• DOI: 10.16922/SC.56.5
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0081-6353

Abstract

Jenkin Thomas Philipps (d. 1755) is not a particularly well-known Welshman. He is remembered as 'a highly accomplished linguist' and as a private tutor, by 1726, to the children of George II, including William Augustus, duke of Cumberland (1721–65) and Mary (1723–72). On 13 November 1732 he was appointed historiographer royal, a position he retained until his death in London on 22 February 1755. His date of birth is given as 1675 in a library catalogue in Basel, but the source for this information is unclear. In his will he left £60 a year towards the maintenance of a free school in his native parish Llansawel, Carmarthenshire, but he died without signing the will; The post of historiographer royal was a sinecure given either to keep the candidate quiet or to supplement an otherwise insufficient stipend. The latter was likely the case when Philipps was appointed 'historiographer to his Majesty' four days after the death of his predecessor, Robert Stephens. It secured him an income of ?200 per annum. In addition to his teaching activities and this appointment, Philipps managed to author and edit a considerable number of works in various languages, but he is not known as an author in Welsh. So it is a surprise to find a poem by him in what must have been his first language. The search to give some context to this poem reveals a few hitherto unknown facts about his life and adds to the list of his known publications.