Reverend C.W.O. Jenkyn

No description of bellringing in East Garston would be complete without mentioning the late Rev. C.W.O. ]enkyn. Cyril Walford Osborn Jenkyn was born In East Garston in 1874, the son of W.O. Jenkyn, who was the vicar of East Garston from 1870 to 1901. He attended Marlborough College, then moved on to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained a BA in 1895 and was a member of the First Rowing Eight. He then attended Wells Theological College, becoming a Deacon in 1897 and a Priest the following year. He married Olive Mary Beale at East Garston in September 1898 - the reception was held at Manor Farm.

Rev. Jenkyn learned to ring at East Garston and Lambourn as a boy - William Woodley used to proudly relate how he had taught Jenkyn the basics of handling a bell. He rang his first peal (  memorized sequence of 5040 changes usually lasting over three hours) at Cambridge in 1894 - exactly 39 years before his death.
He became Curate at Waltham St. Lawrence, and then moved to Witney from 1899 to 1910, where he became fully involved with the local community, and organized activities for the local youth - also finding time to undertake a camping tour of Palestine. He then became Chaplain of Queen Anne Girl's School in Caversham - and while serving here, also found time to be Chaplain to the Caversham Freemasons Lodge, President of the Caversham Nursing Association and a member of the Reading Leander Club.

He also served on the committees of Reading University, Royal Berkshire Hospital and the Reading Tuberculosis Dispensary Care Association, as well as serving as a locum minister in the Reading area. Between 1915 and 1919,

Rev. ]enkyn served as an Army Chaplain in Flanders, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 for fine and gallant work helping to rescue wounded soldiers under fire. It was during this time that he suffered a gas attack from which he never fully recovered.