James Guidney or Jemmy the Rock Man (born 1779 or 1782; died 1866) was a British soldier and later street pedlar in Birmingham, England.[1]
James Guidney | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Watercolour portrait by John Church Dempsey, circa 1830 | |
| Born | 1779 or 1782 |
| Died | 28 September 1866 (aged 83-87) |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Jemmy the Rock Man |
Guidney was born in Norwich in 1779[2] or 1782.[1] He received five years of part-time education, and worked as an errand boy, before joining the 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment, initially as a drummer boy, in 1797.[1] He served with them in Gibraltar and then Malta, where he lost his right eye as the result of Ophthalmia.[1] In around 1809 he transferred to the First Royal Veteran Battalion, claiming to have eventually been promoted to "Sergeant and Drum Major to the Battalion".[3]
Several artists painted Guidney; a watercolour portrait by John Church Dempsey is in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and three in oil (one by William Thomas Roden), and a watercolour, are in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, which also holds a silver plated relief, and the tin from which he sold medicated toffee, "good for cough or cold".[1]
His short biography, Some particulars of the life and adventures of James Guidney, a well known character in Birmingham. Written from his own account of himself., was published anonymously in Birmingham and ran to at least four editions, with revisions. It is considered autobiographical,[2] and has many demonstrably-incorrect dates.[2] Among the incidents described are the capture of a purported mermaid, and a lamb that Guidney claimed had assumed human form and instructed him to grow a beard.[3]
Guidney died on 28 September 1866 and is buried in Birmingham's Witton Cemetery.[2]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e Hansen, David (2017). Dempsey's people : a folio of British street portraits 1824-1844. Canberra: National Portrait Gallery. ISBN 978-0-9953975-1-4.
- ^ a b c d Major, Joanne. "James Guidney aka Jemmy the Rockman".
- ^ a b Anon (1862). Some particulars of the life and adventures of James Guidney, a well known character in Birmingham. Written from his own account of himself (3rd ed.). Birmingham: James Upton.
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