Geraint H. Jenkins,

GERAINT HUW JENKINS FBA, FLSW, (1946-2025), late President of the society.

The news of the sudden death of Professor Geraint H. Jenkins on 7 January, aged 78, came as a dreadful shock at the start of 2025. After the loss of our previous President, Professor Ieuan Gwynedd Jones in 2018, Geraint was the natural choice to succeed him and we had hoped that he would continue to provide leadership for some years to come. He was a stalwart of the Society, having served on the executive committee for forty-six years, from 1978 onwards. During that time, he acted as journal editor for twelve years and as chair between 1998 and 2018, before taking on the role of president. He also brought his deservedly legendary editorial skills to bear in his contribution as editor of Volumes II and III of the Cardiganshire County History. His interest in the history of Ceredigion was therefore one of the most consistent elements of his career as a historian and he had recently developed an interest in researching more local, family history.
A native of Penparcau, rather than Aberystwyth, as he never failed to point out, his only substantial period outside the boundaries of the county was having left Ardwyn Grammar School to study History at Swansea University. The History Department in Swansea in the 1960s was notable for its expertise in Welsh history and Geraint records being inspired by lecturers such as Professor Ieuan Gwynedd Jones and Professor Glanmor Williams. It was under the mentorship of Glanmor Williams that Geraint developed his interest in early modern Wales. The resulting PhD on Welsh printed books was quickly turned into a volume in the Studies in Welsh History series by the University of Wales Press. It remains a remarkable piece of scholarship which identified the significance of the previously overlooked period of 1660-1730 for the growth of print culture and the spread of religious knowledge. This was a challenge to the received ‘Methodist view of history’ as Geraint termed it, which had lambasted the period prior to the 1730s as one of darkness and stagnation in order to emphasise further the transforming influence of the evangelical revival. Geraint provided copious facts and figures to demonstrate that their success was in reality built on the efforts of a previous generation of authors, Anglican and Dissenter, who sought to make use of the Welsh language to increase knowledge of the Christian faith. His work on individuals such as Griffith Jones, Stephen Hughes, Thomas Jones of Shrewsbury and Theophilus Evans demonstrated the growth of a print culture, with religious preoccupations often at its heart, but also interested in preserving and revitalising Welsh culture more broadly.
It was in the early years of his work on his doctorate that he was encouraged by Professor Glanmor Williams to apply for a post at the Department of Welsh History at Aberystwyth to lecture through the medium of Welsh. That he was duly appointed at the very young age of twenty-two is a sign of the great potential he was already showing as a historian. He remained in the Department until 1993, gaining a personal chair and becoming head of the Department. Geraint took great pride in leading the celebrations for the sixtieth anniversary of the Department in 1992, with the great hall and quadrangle of the Old College filled with former staff and students for the event. It was inevitably a great disappointment to him that Welsh History ceased to be a separate department and was merged with the Department of History soon after his departure in 1993, when he was appointed Director of the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. He remained at CAWCS until his retirement, serving also as chair of the Board of Celtic Studies of the University of Wales. This was a demanding role which required constant applications for funding from various bodies in order to maintain the range of projects on the history and literature of Wales.
Even after his retirement from full-time employment, he remained active and was in regular demand as a speaker on the National Eisteddfod field, where he never failed to inform and entertain the packed audiences. It is very fitting that his last contribution to Ceredigion was in the previous issue for 2023, an article on his much-admired friend, Meredydd Evans. It was, as ever, immaculately written in Geraint’s inimical lively style, in a way that made life exceptionally easy for the editor.
Geraint set a standard for detailed research and engaging communication which will remain an inspiration to a wide range of colleagues, friends and students. We will all remember his commitment to the Society, his dry humour, his natty dress sense and his consistent support for the officers of the Society, whose efforts he greatly valued.
The large audience at his funeral on 1 February 2025, many of them members of the Society, was a sign of the respect that was felt towards him not only as a historian but as one who made a wide contribution to his local community. It was a privilege to collaborate with him. We will inevitably remember him when we resume our activities during the coming year and beyond. We extend our sincere condolences as an Association to the whole family in their loss.

Eryn M. White
President of the Society