Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool,
KG,
PC (
June 7,
1770 –
December 4,
1828), known as
Lord Hawkesbury from 1796 to 1808, was a
British statesman who served
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827.
The son of
George III's close adviser
Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool and his part-Indian first wife, Amelia Watts, Robert Jenkinson was educated at
Charterhouse School and
Christ Church, Oxford. He entered the
House of Commons in 1790 for Rye, a seat he would hold until 1803, and rose quickly through the Tory ranks. He served as a member of the Board of Control for
India (1793-1796), and as
Master of the Mint (1799-1801).
In
Henry Addington's government Hawkesbury entered the cabinet as
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in which capacity he negotiated the
Treaty of Amiens with France. In 1803 he was summoned to the
House of Lords through a
writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of
Baron Hawkesbury.
In later governments, Hawkesbury continued to serve in important cabinet positions - as
Home Secretary in
Pitt's second government and
the Duke of Portland's second government, and then as
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies in
Perceval's government.
When Perceval was assassinated in May, 1812, Lord Liverpool succeeded him as prime minister. Liverpool's ministry was a long and eventful one - it saw Britain's victory in the
Napoleonic Wars, the
Congress of Vienna, and the eventful early years of peace which followed. Liverpool, aware that his abilities were no more than moderate, generally stayed in the background, letting more brilliant subordinates like
Lord Castlereagh,
George Canning, the
Duke of Wellington,
Robert Peel, and
William Huskisson, all of whom served under him, take leading parts. Nevertheless, Liverpool was himself a skilful politician, and held together the liberal and reactionary wings of the Tory party, which his successors, Canning, Goedrich and Wellington all failed to do.
Although Lord Liverpool argued for the abolition of the slave trade at the Congress of Vienna, he was generally opposed to reform, often embracing repressive measures to ensure the
status quo. He suspended
Habeas Corpus in both
Great Britain (1817) and
Ireland (1822). Following the
Peterloo Massacre in 1819, his government imposed the repressive
Six Acts legislation which limited, among other things, free speech and the right to gather for peaceful demonstration. He did support the repeal of the
Combination Laws banning workers from combining into trade unions in 1824, although the powers of these unions were restricted in 1835 following
strikes. He was also virulently opposed to granting political equality to
Roman Catholics.
Liverpool retired on
9 April 1827 following a paralytic stroke on
17 February, and died in December the following year. He was succeeded in the
Earldom of Liverpool by his younger half-brother
Charles Cecil Cope Jenkinson, 3rd Earl of Liverpool. It is now generally accepted that Lord Liverpool was of
Anglo-Indian descent.
In recent years, Lord Liverpool and his government from 1815 to 1827 have entered the A2 Level syllabus taught to 18 year old British students, but this is to be discontinued after 2006 due to low candidate numbers.
Lord Liverpool's legacy includes being known as a 'reconciler of men' and a 'blurrer [sic] of political differences'.
Liverpool Street in London is named after Lord Liverpool.
*Lord Liverpool -
First Lord of the Treasury and
Leader of the House of Lords*
Lord Eldon -
Lord Chancellor*
Lord Harrowby -
Lord President of the Council*
Lord Westmorland -
Lord Privy Seal*
Lord Sidmouth -
Secretary of State for the Home Department*
Lord Castlereagh (Lord Londonderry after 1821) -
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and
Leader of the House of Commons*
Lord Bathurst -
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies*
Lord Melville -
First Lord of the Admiralty*
Nicholas Vansittart -
Chancellor of the Exchequer*
Lord Mulgrave -
Master-General of the Ordnance*
Lord Buckinghamshire -
President of the Board of Control*
Charles Bathurst -
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster*
Lord Camden - minister without portfolio
Changes
*late 1812 - Lord Camden leaves the Cabinet.
*September, 1814 -
William Wellesley-Pole (Lord Maryborough from 1821), the
Master of the Mint, enters the Cabinet.
*February, 1816 -
George Canning succeeds Lord Buckinghamshire at the Board of Control
*January, 1818 -
Frederick John Robinson, the
President of the Board of Trade, enters the Cabinet.
*January, 1819 - The
Duke of Wellington succeeds Lord Mulgrave as Master-General of the Ordnance. Lord Mulgrave becomes minister without portfolio.
*1820 - Lord Mulgrave leaves the cabinet.
*January, 1821 - Charles Bathurst succeeds Canning as President of the Board of Control, remaining also at the Duchy of Lancaster.
*January, 1822 -
Robert Peel succeeds Lord Sidmouth as Home Secretary
*February, 1822 -
Charles Watkin Williams-Wynn succeeds Charles Bathurst at the Board of Control. Bathurst remains at the Duchy of Lancaster and in the Cabinet.
*September, 1822 - Following the suicide of Lord Londonderry,
George Canning becomes Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons.
*January, 1823 - Vansittart, elevated to the peerage as Lord Bexley, succeeds Charles Bathurst as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. F.J. Robinson succeeds Vansittart as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He is succeeded at the Board of Trade by
William Huskisson.
*1823 - Lord Maryborough, the Master of the Mint, leaves the Cabinet. His successor in the office is not a Cabinet member.
*
Robert Jenkinson at Find-A-Grave
