Francis Jayne

Francis John Jayne (1 January 1845 – 23 August 1921) was a British bishop and academic.

Born in Pant-y-beiliau, Llanelli, he was educated at Rugby School and Wadham College, Oxford. He took his B.A. in 1868 and M.A. in 1870. He was a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford between 1868 and 1873.

From 1879 to 1886, Jayne was Principal of St David's College, a university institution in the small Welsh town of Lampeter. During his time there, he steered the institution through the difficult years following the 1880 Aberdare report on intermediate and higher education in Wales. The report recommended that the Colleges at Aberystwyth and Lampeter be united to form one institution, but Jayne fought the plan and retained St. David's College's independence.

A devoutly religious man, Jayne left Lampeter to become an Anglican vicar in Leeds. He became Bishop of Chester in 1889, a position he held until 1919. He died at Oswestry, and was buried at Bowdon, Cheshire.

Jayne was concerned about excessive drinking and the misuse of alcohol. He published an article called Successful Public-House Reform discussing the virtues of the Scandinavian Gothenburg system for managing pubs etc. He also founded the People's Refreshment House Association Limited which at its peak owned 130 inns and hotels.

He and his wife Emily (née Garland) had six sons and three daughters, one of whom was the Norwegian-to-English translator Edith M. G. Jayne.