John McKenny

John McKenny 1788-1847

John McKenny was my great, great, great, great, great grandfather on my mother's side. He was born in 1788 in the barony of Coleraine, Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodists visited the McKenny family and asked that John be consecrated to Christ at birth and as a consequence John began preaching at the age of eighteen. He became a Wesleyan (Methodist**) Minister and was the first Wesleyan Missionary to go to Africa. He worked in South Africa for two years despite official discouragement.

He spent almost 20 years in Ceylon, India from 1816 to 1834 before returning to England in poor health (1835).

In 1835, John was sent to Australia to take over as Superintendent of Missions.

John McKenny was apparently not an inspiring leader but he was very good at managing affairs. For example, he persuaded the government to give legal status to the Methodists and secured full legal recognition for their marriage celebrations

John McKenny is very well known in Methodist circles, he was the third Superintendent of Missions in Australia and was responsible for the building of the Centenary Chapel at 87 York Street Sydney and laid the foundation stone for this building, it has since been rebuilt but apparently the outside facade is still the same.

** The Methodists became the uniting church in 1977.

John McKenny's first wife was Mary Smyth. She was born in Ireland in 1788 and she died in Ceylon in 1832.

John and Mary had three children all of whom were born in Ceylon -

• Mary Smyth McKenny (1819-1849) #
• Eleanor Elizabeth McKenny (1821-1902) #
• George James McKenny (married Mary Frazer)

Mary married my ancestor, William John Munce and then when she died, he married her sister, Eleanor Elizabeth McKenny. Their eldest child, George Edward Munce continues to my line.

John died on 31st October 1847, aged 58 and had been a missionary for 36 years. He was buried in the Mission House Vault in the Old Devonshire Street Cemetery, but in 1901 the Government resumed the cemetery site for railway purposes and his remains along with those of four other ministers were interred in Grave No 178 Section 1D of the Old Methodist Cemetery at Rookwood Cemetery.

There is a chapter on John McKenny in a book called "The Illustrated History of Methodism" written by James Colwell, published 1904, it covers Methodistism in Australia from 1812 to 1855 and is available at the Mitchell Library in Sydney.