Family Background

The Jekyll family line from which Gertrude Jekyll was descended can be traced back 13 generations, as shown in a simplified family tree elsewhere on this site. The name is probably of Danish origin. William Jekyll (1470-1539) came to London from Lincolnshire; he became Purveyor of Forage for the King’s Horse. Down the years, the family were lawyers, clergymen, bankers, merchants, soldiers, sailors and servants of the British crown. 

 

A distinguished lawyer, Sir Joseph Jekyll (1663-1738), was Master of the Rolls (his portrait is by Sir Godfrey Kneller). He became a wealthy man and, having no children, he made many generous legacies to individuals, charities, as well as his own family. He also left £10,000 each of South Sea and East India stock (equivalent of several million today) to reduce the national debt. There were unforeseen illegal features in his will, rectification of which might have meant that his 12 close family heirs, as residuary legatees and intended main beneficiaries, got almost nothing. So, the will was challenged after his death. It was something of a cause celebre and it took five acts of parliament over 37 years for it be finally settled. Lord Mansfield, a later Chief Justice, described it as  “a very foolish bequest…he might as well have attempted to stop the middle arch of Blackfriars Bridge with his full-bottomed wig”. But the generous bequests to his 12 close family members was a great boon to subsequent generations of Jekylls.

 

Sir Joseph’s nephew, John Jekyll, Gertrude’s great great grandfather, lived in America and was Collector of Customs in Boston, Massachussetts from 1707 to 1732; he discharged his job with such competence and fairness that he was described as the ‘Darling of all Fair Traders’ in New England, see next page.