William Jennings

1701 - 1798  (97 years)

• Name	William Jennings
  Birth	1701
  Gender	Male
  Death	1798
  Person ID	I85587	First tree
  Last Modified	22 Jun 2020

  
  

  Father	Robert Jennings,   b. 1671   d. 1725 (Age 54 years)
  Mother	Ann Guidott
  Family ID	F74660	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  William Jennens (possibly Jennings) (1701– 1798), also known as William the Miser, William the Rich, and The Miser of Acton, was a reclusive financier who lived at Acton Place in the village of Acton, Suffolk, England. He was described as the "richest commoner in England" when he died unmarried and intestate with a fortune estimated at £2 million, worth in excess of £2.5 billion at 2020 rates, which became the subject of legal wrangles (Jennens vs Jennens) in the Court of Chancery for well over a century until the entire estate had been swallowed by lawyers' fees. This may have been the stimulus for the fictional case of Jarndyce vs Jarndyce in Charles Dickens' serialised novel Bleak House. The Gentleman's Magazine reported in 1798 that "A will was found in his coat-pocket, sealed, but not signed; [owing to] leaving his spectacles at home when he went to his solicitor for the purpose of duly executing it."