Henry Bradwardine JacksonCynthia Dillon Some of the members present at our October 1993 meeting, a question and answer session, may have noticed my ears prick up when Mrs Kathleen Wright, our membership secretary, said she had been scanning the 1881 Naval Census records for any reference to local men. She had found one Lieutenant, born Barnsley, aged 26, serving in V Agincourt (presumably the V refers to Queen Victoria), one Henry B. Jackson. Members may have noticed my rising excitement when Mr Cooper, a fount of local knowledge, said that he would Henry B. Jackson, Admiral of the Fleet during the 1st World War and the son of William Jackson of Beevor Hall. Now, I knew that William Jackson's son Henry, had followed him into the linen trade. I knew, because Henry Jackson had married Jane, daughter of Charles Tee, a branch of my husbands family. However, Henry and Jane had baptised a son, Henry Bradwardine Jackson (Bradwartline according to the baptismal register and Bradwardine according to 'Who's Who'). The last reference I had to this young man was as a scholar, at home at the rectory in Darfield. How did a boy born just about as far from the sea as it is possible to get in England, choose the Navy for his career? Perhaps it was as well he did, for investigation proved that in the Navy, Henry Bradwardine Jackson (55Kb) rose as high as it was possible to rise. His influence throughout the 1st World War was immense; The decorations collected a most impressive list; his impact on scientific developments in the Navy no less commendable. Members may wish to know more of this son of Barnsley
of whom they can be justifiably proud.
In 1890, Henry Jackson had married Alice Mary Florence, eldest daughter of Samuel Hawksley Burbury F.R.S. The marriage was childless. Among his numerous honours were K.C.V.O (1906), the K.C.B (1910) and the G.C.B. (1916). he also received honorary degrees from Oxford, Cambridge and Leeds Universities. Foreign honours included Grand Cross of the Spanish Order of Naval Merit in 1909, The Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, and the Russian Order of the White Eagle. He was also a grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. For his scientific expertise, he was made Honorary Vice-President of the Institution of Naval Architects. Henry Jackson was particularly interested in science, especially where it could be related to the Navy. At first, he studied navigation, then became interested in the mechanism of the torpedo. Later he conceived the idea of employing wireless waves to signal to a capital ship the approach of a friendly torpedo boat. Jackson made and experimented with many pieces of equipment designed for the sending and receiving of messages, and whilst master of the Defiance succeeded in transmitting signals from one end of the ship to the other. In 1896, Jackson met Signor Guglielmo Marconi. The two pioneers had been working on parallel lines, but whereas Marconi was aiming at long distance wireless communication over land and sea, Jackson's main aim was to improve the communication service of the fleet. In 1900, he felt personally rewarded when a contract was given to Marconi to supply wireless installations to many Royal Navy ships. During his time as Controller of the Navy, recommendations were approved for building the first turbine battleships ('Dreadnoughts') and the famous Invincible class of Battle-Cruiser. Among other types of warships designed under the general direction of Jackson were the Frobisher and Hawkins classes. He continued to be interested in in wireles telegraphy and in 1920 was appointed the first chairman of the Radio Research Board of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Under his guidance, and in his presence, important experiments were carried out, covering such things as propagation of wireless waves, the nature of atmospherics, radio direction finding and precise radio frequency measurements. More than 100 important papers were published. In 1926, the Royal Society presented him with his most prized award, that of the Hughes Medal in recognition of the great merit of his work. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that British prestige in the scientific aspects of radio telegraphy owes much to the guidance of Henry Bradwardine Jackson. © Cynthia Dillon 1994
The above article was first published in the Journal of the Barnsley
Family History Society in January 1994. It is reproduced here by permission
of the Committee & Editors. If you enjoyed this article about Henry Bradwardine Jackson, you may be interested in visiting one of Steve Johnson's many 'Cyber Heritage' sites, which provide extensive coverage of the 19th and 20th century Royal Navy in photographs, starting with HMS Defiance, Naval Torpedo and Submarine Mining School. This page last updated 28th April 2000 |