Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Jenking, Shadrach
Parallel form(s) of name
- Jenking, Sharrock; Jenkin, Sharrock; Jenkins, Sharrock; Jenking, Shadrack; Jenkin, Shadrack; Jenkins, Shadrack; Jenking, Shadroch; Jenkin, Shadroch; Jenkins, Shadroch; Jenking, Shadrock; Jenkin, Shadrock; Jenkins, Shadrock.
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
ca. 1792-1853
History
Shadrach Jenking (ca. 1792-1853) was born in Falmouth, England, but spent much of his life as a shipwright and captain in the Township of Sandwich in Upper Canada, during the early 19th century. Although originally named “Sharrock” (his mother’s maiden name), Jenking’s given name evolved to “Shadrach” over the course of his lifetime, and his surname was often misspelled. He is known to have completed a shipwright apprenticeship under John and Robert Symon in England before immigrating to North America ca.1816. He was married on 25 July 1818 to French-Canadian settler Margaret Maisonville.
A distinguished landowner in the Township of Sandwich, Shadrach established the Jenking Shipyard, where he and his sons built, repaired, and experimented on vessels, the most notable being the steamer Essex, and the Argo, a ferry which ran from Detroit to Sandwich. Jenking’s property, near Drouillard Road and sometimes described as being in Walkerville, was purchased in 1910 from Hattie Louise Jenking Johnson by the nascent Ford Motor Company of Canada, and therefore later became part of Ford City/East Windsor.
Shadrach Jenking was an advocate for the rights of shipwrights, having petitioned for their legal protection to the House of Assembly of Upper Canada in 1836 and 1837. He died on 9 November 1853, as recorded in the St. John’s Anglican Church parish record of 1853-1874.
Shadrach and Margaret Jenking may have had as many as 21 children, although it is believed that only 12 survived infancy. Among their many descendants (some of whom altered the spelling of their surname to Jenkin or Jenkins) is Neil J. MacPhee, their great-great-grandson and donor of this fonds.
Sources: Contents of fonds; “Captain Shadrach Jenking,” Geni open-access genealogy website, https://www.geni.com/people/captain-Shadrach-Jenking/6000000084872640438 ; discussion re: Bill for the protection of shipwrights, Journal of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada, 1st Sess., 13th Parl., 7th Wm IV (9 January 1837), p. 248 Journal of the House of Assembly, 1837 ; F.J. Holton, D.H. Bedford, and Francis Cleary, “History of the Windsor and Detroit Ferries,” Ontario Historical Society: Papers and Records [Ontario History], vol. XVI (1918), p. 44 Ontario Historical Society: Papers and Records (1918). (All accessed 1 March 2022).