BEGAN his education at a school at Parsons-green, where he remained till he was thirteen, and was then removed to the Charterhouse, where he continued for two or three years, and distinguished himself in classics and other branches of learning. He afterwards entered Christ Church College, Oxford, but his father had early destined him for public life, and directed Robert’s studies with a view to his future career, making a point that political science, commerce, and finance should be especially attended to. At college young Jenkinson became the companion and friend of George Canning, afterwards Prime Minister, a friendship which continued for a very long period. Robert Jenkinson was at Paris on the breaking out of the Revolution, and witnessed the demolition of the Bastille by the mob: he was the means of affording useful information to the British Government respecting the state of French public affairs, being in close correspondence with Mr. Pitt. On his return to England he was chosen Member of Parliament for Rye, under the especial patronage of the Minister. But his election taking place twelve months before his age qualified him to sit in the House of Commons, he passed the intervening time in Paris. In 1791, on attaining his twenty-first year, he took his seat, and made his first speech in opposition to a motion of Mr. Whitbread’s on foreign affairs, in which the young member showed a wonderful acquaintance with European politics and international law. Both he and his father were opposed to the Abolition of the Slave-trade. When in 1792 Charles Fox moved an address to the King to the effect that his Majesty should send an Ambassador to the French Republic (Lord Gower having been recalled), Mr. Jenkinson, in the absence of Mr. Pitt, replied in indignant and eloquent terms: ‘On this very day, while we are here debating about sending an Ambassador to Paris—on this very day is the King of France to receive sentence; and in all probability it is the day of his murder.’ And he proceeded in glowing terms to point out how ill-advised, undignified, and unfeeling the sanction which would thus be given to ‘sanguinary monsters’ would appear in the sight of all men. Fox’s motion was rejected without a division, and Jenkinson’s eloquence gained him universal praise, Edmund Burke being loud in his approbation. The young member rose in the opinion of all parties from that moment, and continued to take a prominent part as an upholder of the Government, which course he pursued for several years. In 1793 he was appointed one of the Commissioners of the India Board: he invariably distinguished himself, especially when speaking on matters connected with trade and commerce, for which, Mr. Sheridan said, ‘Mr. Jenkinson might be expected to have some claims to hereditary knowledge.’ In 1796 Robert’s father was created Earl of Liverpool, and he himself assumed the title of Lord Hawkesbury. He was a staunch advocate for the union with Ireland, and in 1801 he became Foreign Secretary, on the formation of a new Ministry, which gave him ample scope for his knowledge of political affairs on the Continent; and in the fulfilment of his official duties, he gained new laurels on many occasions too numerous to detail here. Later on, the management of the House of Commons (as it is technically called) devolved upon Lord Hawkesbury, who spoke on all the important questions of the day, and, at the opening of the next session, was called up to the House of Lords in order to strengthen the Ministry in the Upper House. On the return of Mr. Pitt at the head of the Ministry, he received the seals of the Home Department. At a late period of this session, on Mr. Wilberforce again bringing forward his favourite question of the Abolition of the Slave-trade, Lord Hawkesbury was instrumental in opposing the measure in the House of Lords, after it had passed the Commons, a course which he also pursued with regard to the Emancipation of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, advocated by Lord Grenville. On the death of Mr. Pitt in 1806, the King sent for Lord Hawkesbury to form a new Ministry, an offer which he deemed it advisable to decline, accepting, however, the office of Warden of the Cinque Ports. He afterwards resumed his old post as Home Secretary, and, his father dying in 1808, he succeeded to the Earldom of Liverpool. He warmly advocated the cause of Spain, and was selected to move the thanks of the House of Lords to Lord Wellington for his gallantry in the Peninsula. After the assassination of Mr. Perceval in 1812, Lord Liverpool was prevailed upon, after frequent refusals, to accept the office of Prime Minister, and during his long administration, which lasted from 1812 to 1827, many of the questions of the deepest importance connected with home and foreign politics were brought under the notice of the Government. Lord Liverpool never slackened in his attention to public affairs, whatever difference of opinion may have existed then, or subsequently as to the liberality of his opinions. The last occasion on which Lord Liverpool was seen at his post was on the 15th of February 1827, when he moved an address expressing the willingness of the House to make an additional provision for the Duke and Duchess of Clarence. On the next day, after rising apparently in good health, and reading his morning letters, he was found by his servant stretched lifeless on the floor, and when the three most eminent physicians of the day were called in, it was ascertained that Lord Liverpool was suffering from an attack of an apoplectic and paralytic nature. As soon as prudence allowed, he was removed to his house at Combe Wood, where he gradually declined, both in mental and bodily power, and expired, in the presence of his wife, and his brother and successor, the Honourable Charles Cecil Jenkinson, on the 4th of December 1828.
Lord Liverpool was twice married: first, to Lady Louisa Hervey, third daughter of the Bishop of Derry, fourth Earl of Bristol, who died in 1821; and secondly, to Mary, daughter of Charles Chester, Esq., formerly Bagot, brother of the first Lord Bagot. He had no children by either marriage.
No. 6. NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE THE FIRST: EMPEROR OF FRANCE.
Dark green uniform.
By David.
No. 7. GEORGE AUGUSTUS FREDERICK HENRY, SECOND EARL OF BRADFORD.
Blue coat. White waistcoat. Cloak.
BORN 1789, DIED 1865.