Peter (Jacka) Jaco (bef. 1728 - 1781)

Born before 4 May 1728 in Newlyn, Paul Parish, Cornwall

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Jaco — married May 1763 in Sheffield, England

Descendants

Died 6 Jul 1781 after age 53 in Margate, Kent, England

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Peter (Jacka) Jaco was born in England.

Biography

Peter was baptised on the 4 May 1728, the son of Nicholas Jacko.^[1]

Peter Jaco started out in the family pilchard business as a fisherman. But after hearing John Wesley preach in Penzance he converted to Methodism and became an itinerant preacher for Wesley. While posted in Newcastle, Peter took the young Thomas Rutherford under his wing, bringing him to the Methodist Conference. Rev. Thomas would go on to be one of Wesley's itinerants as well. Neither man could realize that in the years to come, Rutherford's son William Rutherford and Jaco's granddaughter Eliza Ann Fenwick would meet and get married in far off Barbados. Rev. Jaco is buried in the Wesley Chapel, City Road, London.
In a letter written to John Wesley dated October 4, 1778, Peter Jaco describes the difficulties of his first circuit assignment as an itinerant minister: "At the Conference in London, May 4, 1754, I was appointed for the Manchester Circuit, which then took in Cheshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and part of Yorkshire. Here God so blessed my mean labours that I was fully convinced He had called me to preach His gospel. Meantime my hardships were great. I had many difficulties to struggle with. In some places the work was to begin; and in most places being in it's infancy, we had hardly the necessities of life; so that after preaching three of four times a day, and riding thirty or forty miles, I have often been thankful for a little clean straw, with a canvas sheet, to lie on. Very frequently we also had violent oppositions. At Warrington I was struck so violently with a brick on the breast that the blood gushed out through my mouth, nose and ears. At Grampound I was pressed for a soldier; kept under a strong guard for several days, without meat or drink but what I was obliged to procure at a large expense; and threatened to have my feet tied under the horses belly, while I was carried eight miles before the commissioners: and although I was honourably acquitted by them, yet it cost me a pretty large sum of money as well as much trouble."^[2]

"Fisher of men, ordain'd by Christ alone
Immortal souls he for his Saviour won:"^[3]

Research Notes

Peter wrote a Will on 1 July 1781, just before he died which was probated 19 days later on 20 July 1781.^[4]

Peter’s Will confirms the following:-

• his wife’s first name is Elizabeth
• he had a daughter Elizabeth (who was unmarried at the time the Will was written in 1 July 1781).

The following siblings & extended family members are still alive in 1781,

• his father Nicholas Jaco,
• his brothers Benjamin & Thomas Jaco, and
• his sisters Mary Wallis (no children mentioned) & Sara who has a (son).

As he had mentioned all his other siblings it is reasonable to assume that his eldest brother, Nicholas died before the Will was written in 1781.

Sources

1. ↑ Baptism of Peter Jacka, baptised 4 May 1728 , Paul Parish Register unnumbered entries, year 1728, page 31. "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DTJ7-6DH?cc=1769414&wc=3CBW-PTY%3A138123201%2C140206301%2C1582895305 : 14 April 2015), image 23 of 101, citing Paul Parish Registers, Paul Baptisms, burials 1694-1775; Cornwall Records Office, Truro.
2. ↑ Entered by Brett Rutherford December 2014. From "Wesley's Veterans, Lives of Early Methodist Preachers Told By Themselves" Vol II by Rev. John Telford, B.A., no publishing date indicated
3. ↑ Inscribed on his tombstone in the graveyard of City-road Chapel, London.
4. ↑ Peter Jaco, recorded will, Hosier of Saint Leonard Shoreditch , Middlesex, 20 July 1781, Will Registers, catalogue reference PROB 11/1080/184; Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury; The National Archives ; digital images, Online Collections (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ : accessed 29 April 2020)

• "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NGMV-DJ2 : accessed 22 March 2015), Peter Jacka, 04 May 1728; citing PAUL,CORNWALL,ENGLAND, reference ; FHL microfilm 226,178.

• The Methodist Archives Biographical Index, University of Manchester Library.

• England & Wales Christening Records, 1530-1906, St. Ann, Soho, London, England, cited in entry for Orlando Fenwick.

• Cited in England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970, RG5: Birth Certificates, Protestant Dissenters´ Birth Registry, 1801-1810, Piece 36: Certificate nos: D 1251-1500 (1807 Oct 29-1808 Mar 17), pg. 89 of 257, entry for Orlando Fenwick.

• Image of Peter Jaco from Methodist Archives.

• Photos courtesy of Susan Woodhouse.