William Jennens

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 £230 million at 2015 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."

William was born in 1701 to Ann(e) (née Guidott 1675, daughter of Carew Guidott(i)) and Robert Jennens (Jennings), who were married in Westminster Abbey in 1700. Robert was aide-de-camp to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. William's grandfather was the Birmingham ironmaster Humphrey Jennens who lived at Edington Hall (poss. Erdington) Warwickshire, and became Lord of the Manor of Nether Whitacre in 1680. William's godfather was King William III.

Robert Jennens bought Acton Place from the Daniels, a recusant Catholic family, in 1708 and continuously remodelled it in the Palladian style until he died in 1725. William abandoned all rebuilding and lived in unfurnished rooms in the basement with his servants and dogs, eschewing visitors and social contact.

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