Reverend Joseph Fenn
This is the home page for one of England's lesser-known but influential priests: the unusual and gifted lawyer, missionary and pastor Rev. Joseph Fenn (1790 - 1878).
I am currently preparing a biography of Rev. Fenn with particular reference to his role in the development of early science education in Kottayam (Kerala, India) and creation of one of the earliest astronomical observatories in The Church Missionary Society seminary there in 1821.
His observatory ceased to exist by 1837 when the CMS split from the Syrian Church and shifted to a new venue up the hill from the "Old Seminary". Subsequent astronomical work was undertaken in a newly built observatory in capital city of Trivandrum by later arrivals John Caldecott, Alan Broun and Alexander Crichton Mitchell.
It was Mitchell's Directorship of the Observatory that led indirectly into his (Mitchell's) invention of the anti-submarine harbour defence system known as indicator loops. If you are a descendant of Joseph Fenn I would be pleased to hear from you.
| If you worked with the CMS or have any feedback please email me: Dr Richard Walding Research Fellow - School of Science Griffith University Brisbane, Australia Email: waldingr49@yahoo.com.au |
|
Joseph Fenn was born in Mincing Lane, London 19th October 1790, the son of the wealthy merchant Nathaniel Fenn and wife Sarah (nee Stevenson). It was a commercial hub for the city's merchants - being the world's leading centre for tea and spice trading thanks to the presence of the British East India Company. It was also the centre of the British opium business (comprising 90% of all transactions), as well as other drugs in the 1700s.
In a sermon proclaiming Joseph Fenn's work as a lawyer, preacher and pastor, his obituarist and friend Canon Miller said: "Grace does not run in the blood, but your pastor was descended from ten or eleven generations of godly seed". In fact, we can trace Fenn back through his father to his grandfather Thomas Fenn of Ballingdon Hall, the excessively wealthy and opulent banker of Sudbury and Receiver of Land Tax for Suffolk, and hence the family wealth. Even further back is Nathaniel Vincent, who suffered as a Nonconforming clergyman in the troubles of 1660 , and was one of those who ministered to sufferers in the Great Plague, when their own clergy deserted them. Yet further back we find the ancestor Cyprian di Valdera, a Spanish Protestant who produced a Spanish language version of the scriptures in 1602; the history of which was taught by Fenn in Travancore. We are left with the feeling from Fenn's words and deeds that he was descended from an ancestry that prompted his godly walk and work.
Fenn was educated chiefly in private - from about 1797, aged 7 - under Rev. Thomas Belsham at his private residence in Hackney, London. Belsham had been professor of divinity and resident tutor at the nearby Unitarian Hackney College but his employment ceased in 1796 when it closed due to financial and disciplinary problems. For many decades during the late 1700s, Hackney had been a prized country resort for wealthy families, bankers and merchants - such as the Fenns. Their religious and political outlook was not always in keeping with that of the Tory government and the Church of England. Some areas of Hackney housed working-class families eager for radical activities and propaganda. They typically would be called 'dissenters'.
It was at Belsham's house in Hackney in about 1801 that Fenn arrived for private lessons. It was said of Belsham that he furnished Fenn "with an extent of general knowledge, very unusual for a young man of his age." Fenn's close schoolfriend of the time was William Hodge Mill, a resident of Hackney, Middlesex whose parents John and Martha Mill were friends of the Fenn family and lived just a few miles from them. Mill was later to become Rev. W. H. Mill - an English churchman and orientalist, the first principal of Bishop's College, Calcutta and later Regius Professor of Hebrew at Cambridge. Nonconformist academies in Middlesex - such as Daventree encouraged learning by explanation rather than by memorizing alone, by inquiry rather than from authority. Fenn left Belsham's tutelage in 1806, aged 16, although Mill continued on for two more years until he too was 16. Fenn then began to work for his father in the wholesale grocery business from Botolph Lane.
 |
Thomas Belsham |
In 1808 at the age of 17 Joseph Fenn had to consider his future. Would he follow in his father's footsteps as a merchant, his grandfather's as a banker, or his uncle's as a lawyer; or would he become a clergyman? Which ever course he chose, he had to ask himself "should I go to university?" He was very well versed in the three ancient languages - Hebrew, Greek and Latin, had a solid grounding in divinity, ethics, metaphysics, grammar, rhetoric and composition, and a smattering of antiquities, geography, history, mathematics and natural philosophy and a passing contact with experimental philosophy.
In 1809 an event occurred that was to change Joseph Fenn's life. Fenn and his father Nathaniel attended a sermon in Bristol by the Scottish theologian Claudius Buchanan, a missionary with the Church Missionary Society recently returned from India. The Fenn family were big supporters of the CMS donating £30 per year "for life" for their work. It was Sunday 26th February that Buchanan spoke of the vast possibilities of spreading the word of God to a rapturous audience. This was the first time of many that Buchanan delivered sermons in Britain on the subject of missionary work. Buchanan was ordained in 1795 by the Bishop of London, and after holding a chaplaincy in India at Barrackpur (1797-1799) was appointed Calcutta chaplain and vice-principal of the college of Fort William. In this capacity he did much to advance Christianity and native education in India, especially by organizing systematic translations of the scriptures. During his visit to the Malabar coast (Travancore and Cochin) in 1806, Buchanan met with Mar Thoma VI, head of the (Christian) Malankara Church at Angamali, near Kochi. Mar Thoma was allegedly pleased to hear Buchanan's intention of translating the Bible into Malayalam, the local language.
Fenn was in the audience - just an 18 year old - but was moved by Buchanan's words. He liked what he heard and could see himself as a missionary. However, he was torn between a life in the service of Christ or life as a solicitor like his Uncle Joseph; he had already decided that the life of a grocery wholesaling merchant wasn't for him but would do him for the time being. His family had mapped out a future where he would work with his uncle to become a wealthy and successful barrister. A fortune would await him if he did. Nevertheless, in the meantime he would continue to work for his father. His good friend William Mill had no such qualms - he was off to Trinity College Cambridge to study theology and began to prepare for Matriculation that year (1809) and then as a scholar in mathematics, classical studies, and the oriental languages Arabic and Hebrew. After a few more years working with his father (and probably his uncle) Fenn decided the time was right to begin his formal studies in law. In late 1814 Fenn finally submitted his application to join one of the Inns of Court in London as the first step in becoming a lawyer. The idea of missionary work was put to one side as he concentrated on his legal career - but nevertheless, missionary service continued to foment inside him.
 |
| Claudius Buchanan D.D. |
For the Fenns, the next critical lecture was on 7th January 1815 at the Freemason's Hall in London. It was a general meeting of the CMS but the public were invited to attend to hear Buchanan address four missionaries about to leave for overseas. There were some 1400 people in the audience - including Joseph Fenn and his family. Although they came to hear Buchanan they also heard a second speaker - a Rev. Thomas Norton who was serving curacies in London but about to leave for missionary work overseas. Norton was a graduate of the CMS Seminary in Islington (London) and had been admitted to Holy Orders. Norton was instructed by the CMS to travel to Ceylon as a missionary as soon as his obligations to the church were fulfilled. Buchanan's sermon - a farewell sermon to the four missionaries - centered on the biblical theme "The harvest truly is great" referring to the multitudes of Samaria coming out of the field like a harvest to approach the Lord. But, said Buchanan, though the Lord commanded labourers to come forth into the harvest, "the labourers are few", particularly in our overseas missions. Norton's reply was the simple but striking proclamation from Isaiah 6:8: "Lord! Here am I; send me." Fenn was primed for this message and he was ready to labour. His family made a sizable annual donation towards CMS missionary projects and they decided it was time to call on the family friend and CMS founder Charles Simeon - the evangelical clergyman at the Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge. Joseph Fenn and his father asked Simeon for advice about going to Cambridge to do a degree for entry into training as a barrister or clergyman. Admittedly, Simeon was a fairly unpopular preacher, so his words had to be treated with some trepidation. In fact, his services were frequently interrupted, and he was often insulted in the streets. But having overcome public prejudice, he subsequently gained a remarkable and lasting influence among the undergraduates of the university and was chosen by many families to give wise advice.
Fenn reluctantly turned his back on life as a missionary and decided to become a laywer - but not through the university route. He began working with his uncle to practice as a conveyancer and when aged 21 (the minimum age for entry) he planned to train for the bar. His worldly prospects were very bright. Not only had he the incidental and important advantage of his father's brother - Joseph - s a solicitor in a large practice, but he showed such ability that he was soon realising an income of £1500 per year (this would be equivalent to roughly £133,000 today) - an enormous sum when you consider a carpenter's annual wage was about £90, and an engineer's £110 per year, if fully employed.
It was only three months after Buchanan's sermon that Fenn was admitted to Lincoln's Inn - 3rd March 1815 at the age of 24. At the time he was living with his parents at 32 Botolph Lane London, between Eastcheap and Lower Thames Street. In March 1815 Fenn began his legal career as an equity draftsman and conveyancer. This category of quasi-barrister (together with Special Pleaders) were members of the Inns of Court, and generally had chambers in the Inns and were permitted to practise their specialisms without being called to the bar.
Later that year (1815), and now aged 25, Fenn decided to work towards becoming a missionary for the Church Missionary Society - while continuing to support himself as a conveyancer. It is said that Fenn heard a voice "Whom shall I send, and whom will go for me?" and he answered as the conveyancy fees flowed: "Here am I; send me." Fenn was about to sacrifice a 'very rich living' to become a missionary. To his friends his zeal seemed little less than folly, or even madness.
Fenn performed his church duties and studies with aplomb while he continued as a conveyancer at the Inn of Court. The 25 year-old Fenn was duly ordained "Deacon Norwich, litt. dim. Bristol" on 9th June 1816. Fenn was ordained a priest two weeks later.
By the time Joseph had begun his religious studies the family had shifted from Mincing Lane a few streets closer to the London Bridge and a slightly more auspicious part of town - Botolph Lane. Two families shard the apartments: one was his family made up of himself, his mother Sarah, his father Nathaniel and several of his nine brothers and sisters. The other was the family of Nathaniel's sister Anne Finch (nee Fenn) and her husband Christopher Finch and their two children Christopher (Jnr) and daughter Sarah (born 1795). Joseph's family shared the home with his father's sister's family. Nathaniel and Ann were the children of the well-known Dissenter from Sudbury, Suffolk, Thomas Fenn - the very wealthy Receiver of Land Tax in Sudbury. They all attended the same church - St Mary's-at-Hill in Lovat Lane at the back of Botolph Street. Joseph's family had been a parishioners there all their lives, and now so too were the Finches. Joseph became quite taken with his cousin Sarah and on the 20th August 1817 they were married at the church officiated over by their Rector William A. Cane. Cousins marrying was not so uncommon 200 years ago and at least she was 22 years old. Fenn then formally resigned his membership of Lincoln's Inn on 6th November 1818 and headed fro the CMS mission at Kottayam in India. The earlier spelling was Cotym, then Cottayam.
 |
Rev. Thomas Norton was first English clergyman trained by the Society for missionary work abroad, and was on his way to Ceylon, when Munro's call came through and he was instructed to go instead to Travancore. Norton landed at Cochin on 8 May, 1816. At the close of the same year he was followed by Benjamin Bailey and his brother-in-law Thomas Dawson. Fenn and fellow missionary Henry Baker were fare welled at the CMS Dismissal Service for missionaries in the autumn of 1817. Friends and relatives gathered for this moving occasion which made a profound impression on the two men about to sail out. They and their wives departed England on December 15th 1817 travelled via the Cape aboard the Moira and arrived in Madras on May 19th 1818. These men all went out as a "mission of help" to the Syrians. Norton, acting under the advice of the Resident (Munro), settled in Alleppey, the principal seaport of Travancore. Dawson settled in Cochin, also a port, a "factory" of the East India Company, a small piece British territory in the native State but was invalided home soon after. The Baileys headed off for Kottayam, a Syrian centre about 23 km east of Alleppey with a native population of 300. Rev. and Mrs Fenn arrived at Kottayam on the 8th October 1818 and found Mr and Mrs Bailey "in terrible health" Health problems would be a reoccurring theme of the missionary experience. All went well for the first year or two but as missionary's wives and children died their spirits became harder to sustain.
By 1823 Fenn was struggling to cope with the extra demands being placed on him by the CMS - first, principal of the College, now more lecturing and teaching in Baker's CMS Grammar School next door: "my mind therefore becomes screwed down to my task like any common drudge, and scarcely capable of a thought beyond Propria quae maribus [The Rudiments of Latin]." What is intriguing is that a learned Brahmin called on him one day and asked that he remain "8 to 10 days to compare our religion and the Vedantic Philosophy together". Fenn responded "An honest comparison it will be: one founded on plain matter of fact - the other on the pious reasoning of vain men who would be wise". This would not be the first time high caste Hindus would consult the English visitors to compare their beliefs. The facilitate this and to promote learning of 'higher order' western works Fenn requested the CMS to find a translator as quickly as possible and to start on the lexicons, grammars, elements of the different sciences immediately.
 |
| The "Old Seminary" at Kottayam today |
By the end of 1825 Joseph Fenn had pressing reasons to return to England - permanently. His eldest daughter Sarah was now seven and like her mother was suffering flagging health in the hot climate. The Fenn's only other child was young son Joseph Finch Fenn now six and "it has come as a matter of importance to place him under proper instruction" back in London recounted his father. Fenn's own health was quite robust. The CMS reacted with alarm and tried to pressure Fenn into staying but he was most insistent and added that his assistant Mr Doran would make a good Principal. Fenn returned to England to become vicar of the Blackheath Park Chapel (later the Church of St Michael and All Angels). In 1830 he was a leading light in the establishment of Blackheath Propriety School, an academic hothouse feeder school especially for Trinity College Cambridge and King's College, London. He was Vice-Principal and later (1859) President of the school. Although Joseph Fenn never attended Cambridge himself, he sent eight of his nine sons to Trinity. As vicar of St Michael's, Joseph Fenn lived in large purpose-built vicarage (Casterbridge), which enjoyed a 19-acre estate, largely laid out as meadowland.
Residing with Joseph and his wife Sarah, was eldest daughter Sarah Finch Fenn (b India 1818), 2nd daughter Anne Judith Fenn (b 1831 Blackheath) and 3rd daughter Elizabeth Susanna Fenn (b 1832, Blackheath). The family had servants: a cook, and one or two maids. After Elizabeth and Anne became adults they moved out, but their sister Sarah stayed on. Neither she nor Anne married nor had children. Joseph's wife Sarah died at home on 14 December 1876, and Joseph died on 10th February 1878. Daughter Sarah died on 30 July 1898 at the Fenn's family home in Blackheath. She left her estate of £5537 in the care of her brother Nathaniel Vincent Fenn.
If you are able to help with this biography, please email me (address at the top)
Thank you,
Dr Richard Walding
Descendents of Cyprian de Valdera through to Joseph Fenn
The equals sign (=) indicates marriage; thus in the first generation Cyprian married Ann and their daughter was Judith (second generation) who married Thomas, and so on. My thanks to Neale Lawson (a descendent of Judith Ford and Thomas Fenn) for his help with the family tree.
CYPRIAN DE VALERA = ANN
JUDITH DE VALERA = THOMAS KINGSMILL
ANN KINGSMILL = GILES COYS
SARAH COYS = WILLIAM OGLETHORPE
ANNA OGLETHORPE = NATHANIEL VINCENT
MARY VINCENT = JOHN FORD
JUDITH FORD = THOMAS FENN
NATHANIEL FENN = SARAH STEVENSON
JOSEPH FENN = SARAH FINCH
JOSEPH FENN - MARRIAGE AND DESCENDANTS
Joseph Fenn
Birth 1791 London, England
Marriage 20 August 1817, St Peter's Church, Sudbury, Suffolk England
Death 10 January 1878, aged 87, Blackheath London
JOSEPH'S PARENTS
Father Nathaniel Fenn
Mother Sarah Stevenson
JOSEPH'S WIFE
Sarah Finch
Birth 1795 Suffolk, England
Marriage 20 August 1817, St Peter's Church, Sudbury, Suffolk England
Death 14 December 1876, aged 82 years.
Sarah's Father Christopher Finch
Sarah's Mother Ann Fenn (daughter of Thomas Fenn, late of Sudbury)
JOSEPH AND SARAH'S CHILDREN IN ORDER OF BIRTH
Joseph Finch Fenn 1st son
Birth 3 Oct 1820 Cottayam Travancore, India
Marriage 1848 Mary Jane Bignold, b 1823, Norwich, Norfolk, England
Children: Joseph Cyprian Fenn (b abt 1856), Elizabeth Fenn (b abt 1858), Samuel B Fenn (b 1859), David W Fenn (b 1861)
Marriage 1873 Mina Frederica Shawe, born 1847 Hampshire
Child: Bernard T Fenn, b 1876
Occupation Vicar of Laughton. Lived in Western Road, Christchurch Lodge, Blackheath
Death 22 July 1884. Buried in family vault, Leckford churchyard
Sarah Finch Fenn, 1st daughter
Birth 28 May 1818 Cottayam, Travancore, Madras Presidency, India
Baptised 6 July 1818,
Cottayam, Travancore, Madras Presidency, India
Death 30 July 1898 at her home 3 Upper Place Park, Blackheath Park, Kent
Buried 3 August 1898, Greenwich Cemetery, London (2 miles from her home)
Note: not to be confused with the daughter of Chatu Menon, Karthyani C.,
who took the name Sarah Fenn on conversion to christianity. See more on this later.
Nathaniel Vincent Fenn, 2nd son
Birth 2 September 1822 Cottayam, Travancore, India
Married 22 March 1838 Elizabeth Hossack of Chertsey, Surrey
Married 22 Dec 1859 Mary Ann Buchanan in Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Married July 1871 Susan Rose
Died - 6 Feb 1904 at his home 13 Jasper Road, Upper Norwood, Surrey
Christopher Cyprian Fenn, 3rd son
Birth 1824 Cottayam, Travancore, India
Marriage (1) 24 March 1859 at Lee, Kent to Emma Poynder (Death 5 June 1870 Blackheath, aged 33)
Marriage (2) 28 Nov 1872 Harriet Elizabeth Christiana Morris (Death 5 March 1927, Kent)
Died 12 Oct 1913 at Tonbridge Wells, Kent
Thomas Ford Fenn, 4th son
Birth about 1825 Cottayam,Travancore, India
Marriage 4 January 1860 Frances Catherine Birch
Death 14 April 1883 (from Scarlet Fever while Headmaster at Trent College)
David Fenn, 5th son
Birth 29 June 1826 Cottayam, Travancore (Kottayam, Kerala) Southern India
Died 15 October 1878 in Madras, India (he was also a missionary for CMS)
David never married and had no children.
William Mason Fenn, 6th son
Birth 15 Feb 1828, Checkenford, Oxford, England
Married 27 July 1858 at Eton College Chapel, Grace Evans
Death 1 August 1886
Samuel Fenn, 7th son
Birth 5th June 1829 Blackheath
Death 25th October 1868, Calcutta, aged 39.
Anna Judith Fenn 2nd daughter
Birth 1831 Place Blackheath, Kent, England
Died 9 December 1915 at her home 37 Blackheath Park, Blackheath, Kent
Anna was unmarried and had no children.
Elizabeth Susanna Fenn, 3rd daughter
Birth 30 January 1832 Blackheath
Died 18 Feb 1896 at her home 18 Christchurch Road, Folkestone, Kent
Elizabeth was unmarried and had no children.
Mary Jane Fenn, 4th daughter
Birth 1834 Blackheath
Married 14 May 1868 Thomas Lake
Children: Sarah Mabel Lake b 1869, Elizabeth Alice lake b 1871
Died 2 March 1925 at her home 19 Kidbrooke Park Road, Blackheath, Kent
John Fenn, 8th son,
Birth 1836 Blackheath,
Married 23 January 1867 Catherine Allison
Death 3rd July 1868, Dunedin in his 33rd year.
Charles Hunter Fenn, 9th son
Birth 11 February 1838, Blackheath
Marriage 20 Dec 1866, St Giles, Bucks, Georgiana Ousely Ommaney (b 27 Dec 1837, Saugor, Bengal, India)
Died 27 December 1912, Switzerland
My thanks to Richenda S Carter, Lincombe House, Ilfracombe, North Devon for her help in compiling this ancestry.
My thanks also to Joshy Mathew (of the Edathumpadickal Syrian Christian family of Kerala) for extra details on Sarah Finch Fenn of Travancore and her family.
THE PRESENT FENNS OF KERALA
As part of the ongoing affiliation of Rev. Joseph Fenn with the people of Travancore, the story of Mr. Chandhu Menon (1778-1837) should be told. He adopted Joseph Fenn's name upon conversion to Christianity in 1831 and his descendents live on in Kerala today as Fenns.
Chathu Menon was born in Chunangad - a village near Ottapalam taluk of the Palakkad district in what was then British Malabar (about 130 km north of Kochi). He was raised by an uncle after his mother died early in his life and later gained employment with the Madras Revenue Department. Upon returning to Travancore he became a tutor for the Dewan Mannadiyar Raman Menon and then was appointed the Tahasildar of Chengannur - (near Kottayam).
Chathu Menon married Parvathiamma of Pulivelil House in the nearby town of Aala. He was an expert in Malayalam, English and Sanskrit. While he was working as the Kottayam Tahasildar he became known to the Church Missionary Society (CMS). Both Rev. Joseph Fenn - the principal of the CMS College at Kottayam - and Mr Benjamin Bailey of the CMS Mission School next door, were in need of a Malayalam translator and Chathu Menon's talents were well known. Fenn wanted him to translate Latin Grammar into Malayalam and Bailey needed him to help him translate the Bible from English to Malayalam.
Several attempts at a Malayalam version of the Bible had already been made by Syrian Catanars when Scottish theologian Dr Claudius Buchannan - the chaplain of the East India Company - visited in the early 1800s. He suggested to Syrian bishop Mar Dionysius that another concerted attempt be made and upon his return in 1807 was delighted to find that new translations had been made of the four Gospels and the book of Acts. The translations were done by Timapah Pillay and Philipose Ramban, a scholar from Kayamkulam, assisted by eight Tamil pandits and eight Suriyani pundits using the Tamul version of Fabricius. It was then printed at Kuriyyar Press in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1811. [The Bible of Every Land. London, 1848, page 124-5].
It was found to abound with words familiar to the Syrian Christians but almost unintelligible to other classes of the Malayalam population. Timapah Pillay was asked to make an entirely new translation without delay, however, it too was a unreliable mixture of Malalayam and Tamil - and was also unsuitable for the missionaries. It was - in the words of the British Resident Colonel Munro - "to be so very bad in every respect; in fidelity, meaning and language as to be unfit for use" [Proceedings of the CMS, V20, 1820, p170]. Munro also said that "Mr Bailey is obliged to make a complete Version of the whole" [op cit].
Faced with this request, Fenn and Bailey approached Chandhu in 1819 and he took two-year's leave from the Travancore Government Service to assist with translation. Bailey also sought ther help of Moses Essarfathi, a Hebrew scholar, and Vydyanadha Iyer, a Sanskrit pandit. Historian and Biblical scholar Stephen Neill says of the process: neither a Malayalam grammar nor dictionary were available to the translators and they were unaware of the contributions the Roman Catholics in this area [Neill, 2002, History of Christianity in India: 1707-1858, p243]. As well there was no standard prose so the question of what sort of Malayalam should the Bible script be translated into was hard to resolve. Nevertheless, The Gospel of Mathew was printed at CMS press in 1819, the New Testament in 1825 and the full Bible in 1841. Neill criticised the text for being too close to the original Greek" thus distorting the Malayalam idiom"; and "an excess of Sanscrit words made it difficult for the less learned Christian to read" [op cit]. Criticisms aside, it was a major achievement for the missionaries of Travancore. Chathu's translation of the Bible was well received. Mr Spring - chaplain at Tellicherry - had also made a complete revision of the Bible using the Sanscrit New Testament supplemented by the Greek text and various critical works.
It was designed to be acceptable to the people of Malabar (to the north of Travancore). Fenn said (in a letter to Rev. Josiah Pratt of the CMS - dated 20 January 1825) regarding the Spring translation of the Bible "I greatly prefer Mr Bailey's", and "Mr Bailey's translation seems to be much more correct and faithful version".
It is often wondered these days why Chathu Menon adopted Joseph Fenn's name when it is believed that his major task was working with Rev. Bailey on the Bible translation. He worked equally hard helping Rev. Fenn and it would seem that Fenn inspired him. For example, on November 30, 1821, in a letter to the Secretary of the CMS in London, Rev. Fenn wrote that "after tea, translated with Chattoo Menon some of the Latin rules of Syntax".
 |
Fenn's diary for February 13, 1821, showing that he was helped by "Chatoo" Menon. |
Fenn also commented in his Annual Report on the College, (Cotym, Sept 23, 1822) that "In translating, Chathu Menon is my mainstay, indeed, I ought to say that he is the translator". But not only did Chathu translate English medium texts into Malayalam, but also Sanscrit: in 1821, at the request of Mr Bailey, he translated the Hindu Upanishad scriptures Ishapanishad and Kenaupanishad.
The Bible translation transformed Chathu's life and he accepted Jesus as his personal Saviour. On 2 November 1831, he was baptized in the Anglican Church in Calicut and was given the name Joseph Fenn [Neill, 2002, History of Christianity in India: 1707-1858, p 243, note 27]. He had to resign from his government job as Travancore rules dictated "non-Hindus were not allowed to hold the post of Tahasildar". However he joined the British Government Service and worked as a the Salt Peshkar in Ponnani, Record Keeper in Calicut; and District Munsif in Cochin. In Malayalam poetical works, he became well known through a controversial poem "Acts of Folly" [it is believed to be titled] wherein he severely criticised some of the social superstitions that prevailed in those days.
He passed away in 1837, at the age of 57, and was buried in St. Andrews Anglican Church, Cochin. His descendants live on in Kerala. One of the better known is Rev. Baker Ninan Fenn who was consecrated as the eighth bishop of the North Kerala diocese the Church of South India in June 2013.
The children of Chathu Menon were: Govindankutty (Bailey Fenn), Born 1825, Died 1864; Kalyani (Elizabeth Fenn), Born 1829, Died 1901 married to Modayil Koipurathu Oommen Menon; Karthyani C. (Sarah Fenn* - see below), Born 1823, Died 1877; Lekshmi (Maria Fenn), Born 1821, Died 1899; Padmanabha (Baker Fenn Sr.), Born 1818, Died 1846; Parvathy (Teresa Fenn), Born 1827, Died 1868.
*Sarah Fenn was married to Mathu Mathu (Mathew Mathew, Mathoo) of an Edathumpadickal family, a scholar in English, Greek, Sanskrit besides Malayalam. He was born in 1818, son of Mathoo of the Malelputhenpurackal sub-branch, and died in the age 73. He was in a friend and colleague of Rev. Chapman who was CMS College Principal, and Henry Baker a Missionary. They had five sons as follows -:
1. Mathew (Mathu, Mathoo) - Malelputhenpurackal sub-branch
2. Rev. Kurian - Mallappally Pallickal sub-branch
3. Ouseph (Joseph) - Pallikkunnel sub-branch
4. Chacko (Jacob) - Meledom sub-branch
5. Cherian - Puthenpurackal sub-branch
My thanks to Joshy Mathew (of the Edathumpadickal Syrian Christian family of Kerala) for extra details on Sarah Fenn and her family. Thank you also to Rays Koshy from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA for additional information about the Kerala Fenns. His wife is Maya Fenn Thomas whose mother Maymol Fenn family is from Vazhoor, Kottayam District of Kerala and a part of the Fenn lineage. Rays has informed me that he has begun a project at Athmavision.org, a new mission started to propagate the Gospel through different media, particularly internet radio, in Malayalam language to cater for his state and language speaking community. Rays is Director of Music Ministries United Methodist Church, Lansdale PA, USA, <athmavisiononline@gmail.com>.
Letter to Reverend Fenn - 1832
In 1826 Rev. Fenn had returned to London and began a less stressful life at Blackheath. He maintained contact with his CMS colleagues in India and I have been given copies of a letter sent to him from India in 1832. It comes to me from Vince Polizatto, a postal history collector from Virginia USA. Vince writes:
The letter was written on January 6, 1834 in Patna (Bengal Presidency) and posted to Bombay the following day via Calcutta. The addressee is Rev. Joseph Fenn, Blackheath Park, Kent, England. At the lower left, it appears to say "For Master J.F. Clark".
The cover is of interest to me because it was sent on one of the early steam voyages from Bombay, on February 1, 1834, to Suez via the Red Sea per the East India Company paddle steamer "Hugh Lindsay". The endorsement at top reads "Via Bombay by steam vessel / on the 1st February 1834".
It was the fifth voyage by the "Hugh Lindsay" to the Red Sea in the early days of steam in the East - still very much an experimental voyage. This was the decade during which the overland mail route across Egypt would be established and Thomas Waghorn would be entrusted to convey the English mails across the Egyptian desert.
The sender paid inland postage (unclear, but I think 10 annas) from Patna to Bombay plus 1 rupee for steam (Red Sea) postage from Bombay to Alexandria, Egypt. The postage was unpaid from Alexandria to Blackheath Park. However, it's rated 6/4d all-in for the packet and inland postage from Alexandria to London via Falmouth. An additional 2d was due for local delivery by Twopenny Post. As you might imagine, this was quite a large amount of money in 1834.
Based on the rate charged for the letter, it should have contained an enclosure. But, unfortunately, neither the enclosure nor the entire letter remains. The scan will show you what is left.
 |
| Letter to Rev Fenn - 1832 |
 |
| Text of letter - transcription is below |
... correspondence to yours - and oh that we may have met at a Throne of Grace. There have our petitions been offered for you and yours. I hope for us - God is the spring of all our joys; and His Holy Spirit our Comforter in these seasons especially when the consolations of our nearest and dearest friends have no power to bind up our wounded spirit. Through Christ our Redeemer none ever sought the Father and were repulsed. Oh let us my child seek Him in sincerity and truth while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near. May He graciously condescend to hear our prayers in your behalf that you may grow up in His fear and serve Him with a perfect mind and willing heart. Should you be spared to this day, eleven years of your life have passed away and you are now Tell your dearest Aunt Harriet that the box she has kindly sent me by Captn White & Grandpapa's packet of newspapers have safely arrived in Calcutta. I hope we should have them in 3 weeks. |
Notes:
The Aunt Harriet referred to in the letter is Harriet Lobb, nee Fenn, b 1786, daughter of John Fenn (1760-1845) and Lydia Williams (b 1763). John Fenn is the uncle of Rev. Joseph Fenn.
The Captain White mentioned in the letter is Captain Thomas White who commanded the "Orientomn each of her four voyages to Calcutta from England for the East India Company. Hezekiah and Anne Clark were invited to White's wedding in Calcutta on 16 December 1829. They were at Gorukhpore and too far away to attend.
The Grandpapa referred to is James Fenn Clark's maternal grandfather John Fenn. He appears to have sent parcels of newspapers from London to Calcutta for his daughter Anne and her husband Hezekiah Clark.
Rev. Thomas Henry Fenn 1871-1938
Wesley Methodist Minister, England
Below is a postcard sent to me of Rev. T. H. Fenn in London in 1905. The reverse side of the postcard is also shown. I was curious if this Rev. Fenn was related to Rev. Joseph Fenn. After much digging, it turns out that he is not a close relative. His story is below nevertheless.
 |
 |
The card was posted on 22 December 1905 from Rochester (Kent) and is addressed to W. J. Floyd Esq, Police Institute, 1a Adelphi Tce, Strand, London. Rev. Walter Floyd was a Wesleyan Methodist Minister, educated at Queen's College Cambridge, who did his theological training at the Didsbury Theological College in 1907 (as did Thomas Fenn 12 years earlier). In the card, Thomas refers to Walter's wife who is Helena (nee Masters). Tom and Walter were both on the London circuit for the Methodist Church and probably knew each other from that. He writes:
Glad to get yours today & to know where you are living. I was in London the other week. Had I known where you were should have looked in at you. It's only the local police I am afraid of. Sorry you have been unwell. Hope you are feeling better. We have had Doddie* in bed, but he is downstairs now, tho' far from strong, poor little chap. I am surprised you have taken Exeter Hall yet. I suppose it's not big enough. There's nothing but Hyde Park will do I fear. If that's too small try Epping Forest. I notice you have brought the [...] down to Charing X. Leave Cannon St alone. I travel that way next Wed and for a weekend in Longton. We all send best wishes to you both for a Happy Christmas time & stick to one place. I notice you have joined the West London Mission & have been to the Temple and Great Queen St. Ever [...] THF. See you again in 6 weeks. |
* I'm not sure who 'Doddie' is in the text above, but I presume it is a nickname used for his 3-year-old son Wynne that was derived from his father-in-law's middle name 'Dodson'.
Thomas Henry Fenn was born in Nottingham in June 1871 to parents John Dodson Fenn (b Plumtree, Nottingham, 1842) and Eliza Fenn, nee Sansom, (b 1841 in Carrington, Nottinghamshire, married 24 August 1868), eldest daughter of William Sansom. His parents were married in the Wesleyan Chapel in Halifax Place, Nottingham. In their early years they lived on a farm at 56 Wilford Grove, Nottingham and later in Alma Tce Nottingham. He had an older sister Ann (b 1870), a younger brother William (b 1873) and sister Fanny (b 1875). His father John Dodson Fenn was a tailor, draper and a Methodist lay preacher (not Reverend) and had been preaching in the Nottingham Wesleyan Church since 1866. John was described as 'a fine raconteur, inexhaustible fund of anecdotes, humorous and otherwise'. For instance, in 1890, he spoke of the 'marvelous power of the gospel to change the moral character of men'. John employed Thomas as a lace warehouseman until he was 24. Ann also worked for her father.
He attended People's College, Nottingham for his primary and secondary education, followed by a degree at University College, (Shakespeare Street) Nottingham, and then in 1895 he undertook religious training at the Theological College, Didsbury, south of Manchester. In the Ministers Probabitioners' Exam he made it to the Honour's List. He was now on the Ministers' Itinerate Circuit.
| Period | Methodist Itinerate Circuit |
| 1895 | Supply (Didsbury Thoelogical College, University of Manchester) |
| 1897-1899 | Longton (Longton Methodist Church, Stoke-on-Trent) |
In 1895 he gave talk at the South Street Wesleyan Chapel in Ilkeston next to his home town of Nottingham. Ithad a fine cricket ground next door so that may have enticed hm too. Tom explained how he came to be destined for the ministry:
Methodist Times 27 July 1899, page 26 Thomas Henry Fenn had been brought up amid the influences of a Christian home, and was early impregnated with the truths, joys, and blessings of the Gospel. It was while attending his first class-meeting that he felt himself to be a sinner, and then realised Christ to be his Saviour. He had a strong conviction that God by His Spirit had laid upon him the duty of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the great need of his own heart and of others. |
In 1900, while serving at at Longton, a village in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, Tom married Charlotte Mary Wynne at the Methodist Jubilee Chapel in Wesley Street. Mary, as she was known, was born in Longton in 1872 and this was the family church. She was the daughter of Selina C. Wynne (b 1833, d 1922 in Essex). Her father died some time before 1891. Over the course of the next 13 years Tom and Mary had four children: Wynne Sansom Fenn, b 3 Nov 1902 in Huntingdon, Marguerite (Margaret) Mary Fenn, b 1904 in Huntingdon, John Lawrence Fenn, b 1909 in Camberwell, London. Their fourth child Henry Llewelyn Fenn was born on 22 April 1913 when the family was at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
In this time Tom continued his duties as an itinerate minister at the following churches. The changeover date was 1st September each year.
Period |
Methodist Itinerate Circuit |
| 1900-1902 | Huntingtdon (Cambridgeshire) |
| 1903-1905 | Rochester (City Way, Rochester, Kent) |
| 1906-1908 | London (Mostyn Road Wesleyan Chapel, Brixton) |
| 1909-1911 | Leeds (Brunswick circuit) |
| 1912-1914 | Newcastle-on-Tyne (Brunswick) |
| 1915-1919 | London (Wanstead & Woodford) |
| 1920-1923 | London (Ilford) - Trinity Way Church, Mawney Rd, Romney |
| 1924-1926 | London (Kingston-on-Thames) |
| 1927-1929 | London (Richmond West) - Kew Rd Wesleyan Church, Richmond |
| 1930 | London (pastoral oversight of 2nd London district) |
| 1931-1932 | Plymouth (Ebenezer Methodist Chapel, Saltash St) |
| 1933-1936 | Cornwall (Copperhouse Methodist Church, Hayle, Cornwall) |
| 1937-1938 | Walton and Chertsey in Surrey |
Tom was a vocal supporter of the temperance movement and spoke often about the evils of alcohol in his speeches. His campaign for sobriety, especially amongst younger children, began in 1902 when at Huntingdon. His wife Mary was an equally active campaigner. In December 1903, he described the "Bands of Hope" organisation as a nursery of temperance, teaching children the importance of sobriety.
Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette - 1 December 1903, page 5 Wesleyan Band of Hope. |
When in Nottingham, Tom would joing his father in preaching at the Wesleyan Church. On 15th April 1898 for instance, Tom conducted the morning and evening sessions, while his father took the afternoon ones.
In September 1924, Rev. Fenn was to take up his new position as minister of the Kingston-on-Thames Circuit in London. He was to leave the Romney after four year's service. His parishioners at Romney wished him, and Mrs Fenn, well:
Chelmsford Chronicle - Friday 1st August 1924, page 5 ROMFORD PASTOR LEAVING. Parting Gifts to Rev. T. H. Fenn. |
The highlight of the year 1926, was being invited along with Mrs Fenn to The Wesleyan School, Kingswood, Bath to meet Edward, The Prince of Wales at the school's prefect investiture on November 11. The school was the foundation school for the Wesleyan church, being created by John Wesley himself in 1748. Tom considered it a great honour to be invited and spoke of it in his meetings on return to London.
Tom was known to be fond of poetry, and in a talk given on 24th September 1927 at Richmond he spoke of the work of English poet Francis Thompson (1859-1907). Tom's talk was entitled "A Voice from the Depths" and centered on Thompson's poem "The Hound of Heaven" written in 1890 when Thompson was fighting the demons of opium addiction. Tom used it to describe human despair and the route to salvation.
It would seem that for Tom, his most satisfying ministry was at Richmond, London in the late 1920s. He was always a member of Rotary but in 1929 he became President of Richmond Rotary and spoke highly of teh organisation. He also voted in as Chairman of the local TOC-H branch, and known as Padre Fenn. In his last year at Richmond (1930) Tom attended the Wesley Conference in Leeds and wrote effusively about proceedings in an extensive report published in the Methodist Leader (2 August 1930).
At the end of his tenure at Richmond Road he began a year without pastoral duties while still attached to the London Circuit, starting 16 August 1930. He was given gifts from the parishioners and then left his house in King's Road London for a reinvigorating holiday in Tankerton on the Isle of Thanet off Kent and returned to duty on 13 September. He and Mrs Fenn lived at Elm Road Barnes in Richmond for the next 12 months. Tom had been an avid cricketer all his life and loved playing game right through until his final years.
Tom became ill in 1937 and was admitted to the Royal Masonic Hospital in Chertsey, Hammersmith, following an operation. He died on 14th January 1938, aged 66. He was buried at the Municipal Cemetery in Chertsey, Surrey (see below). The notice of his death appeared in many newspapers, and here is one from The Cornish Post and Mining News - Saturday 22 January 1938, page 7.
FORMER HAYLE MINISTER'S DEATH AN APPRECIATION. |
His wife, Charlotte Mary, died on the 14th June 1953 aged 82 years, and was buried in the same grave as her husband.
 |
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
|
| Grave monument for Rev. and Mrs Fenn is at the Municipal Cemetery, Chertsey, Surrey, England (Used with permission - Gravestone Photographic Resource) |
Transcription details above. |
Their children:
- John Lawrence Fenn died on 7 June 1911 aged 2 years.
- Wynne Sansom Fenn married Frances Flower Lambert Carson (1906-1982) of Dublin in 1931 and after their divorce he married Margaret Loring in 1954. Wynne became an insurance manager in London and was branch manager for General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corp. Ltd in Croydon. He died in February 1989 in West Oxfordshire and did not have any children.
- Henry Llewelyn Fenn married Herta Herfuth (1920-2018) at Cambridge in 1938 and died in 2000 in Kent.
- Marguerite (Margaret) Mary Fenn M.B., B.S., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., D.P.H., undertook a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery degree and was later awarded the Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians (L.R.O. P) in February 1928, aged 24. She became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons (M.R.C.S.) and later took a Diploma in Public Health. She worked as a doctor at the Clapton Maternity Hospital, the Brompton Chest Hospital, The Victoria Hospital, Accrington and the Hospital for Children, Newcastle. She was appointed as women's assistant medical officer at Ealing Hospital, London in July 1931 to be responsible for child welfare and maternity services. Mary resigned this position in April 1933 owing to her forthcoming marriage to industrial chemist Frank Courtney Harwood B.Sc., F.I.C., A.M.I.Chem.E., of Ealing. Frank (b 16 Feb 1897) was the son of master cordwainer William D Harwood and was a industrial chemist and Bristol branch manager of the Golden Valley Ochre and Oxide Company.. Frank had previously married 26 year-old Marjorie Westwood Pearce on 17 July 1920 at the Wesleyan Church in Windsor Rd in Ealing. Marjorie died on 2 January 1932 leaving Frank a widower. He later married Dr. Margaret Fenn. The marriage took place on 6th April 1933 at the Methodist Church, Eden Street, Kingston-on-Thames. Dr Fenn then became known as Mrs Courtney Harwood. She reapplied for a medical position and was appointed to the hospital in Linton, Cambridgeshire as Dr. Margaret Mary Harwood. Frank Harwood became Director of Research at the British Launderers' Association. He retired in 1963 but remained a Deacon of the Southernhay Congregational Church in Exeter. He died in 1974 at Exeter.
Feedback to Dr Richard Walding: waldingr49@gmail.com
Griffith University, Australia