Jenvey’s paternal grandfather was a Millbrook tanner. PROB 11/34, f. 71v. Jenvey himself was baptized at Millbrook, a couple of miles west of Southampton; little else is known of him before he was entered on the roll of Portsmouth freemen in 1589. A draper, he was fined 40s. in 1593 for buying a ship with a non-freeman. Portsmouth RO, CE1/3, f. 140. He became a prominent member of the corporation and acquired several small properties, including the site on which he built the White Lion tavern in 1607-8. For the tavern, see Portsmouth Recs. 154, 486. For the other properties, see ibid. 148, 477; Portsmouth RO, CE1/3, f. 144v. However, when returned for Portsmouth to the first Stuart Parliament he was of sufficiently modest means to be allowed 4s. a day and 20s. for horse hire. His sole mention in the parliamentary record was to be added to the committee for the Southampton charter bill on 11 May 1607.CJ, i. 372a. He was still alive in December 1616, Portsmouth RO, CE1/4, pp. 217, 219. but had died by 6 Mar. 1617, when an inventory of his goods was taken which valued his estate at more than £640. This figure included numerous debts owed to him, of which more than £148 was deemed recoverable. Hants RO, 1617AD48. Document damage means that the amount of ‘desperate’ debts is uncertain. Jenvey’s heir, Benjamin, who, with his mother, was granted the right to administer his father’s goods, died in 1624, apparently without issue. No other member of the family entered Parliament.
