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Young men living together and sharing danger, develop bonds of friendship that are often expressed in the form of nicknames. Gipsy Joe, Bellepheron, the Fisherman, Fighting Jack, Bullfrog, Lanky Tom, Norfolk Bill and Moleskin were all names of individual navvies. Perhaps this song was made by a real 'Happy Jack'.
Work on the line around Bury began in 1844. Bury station in Lancashire was opened by the East Lancashire Railway September 1846. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Lancashire_Railway_1844%E2%80%9359]
There is a Clerke Street in Bury, about 400m east of the railway line. No reference to Jenkinson's has yet been found.
Jack says "geet my wages" for 'got my wages'; another indicator that he was from Lancashire. Many navvies came from the north west of England.
In fact navvies were very well paid. They could often earn twice as much as agricultural labourers. In 1845 harvesters earned 22 pence per day; navvies earned 45 pence for a 9 hour day
Reference: Cowley, Ultan. The Men Who Built Britain: A History of the Irish Navvy (Wolfhound, Dublin, 2001)