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{{Infobox officeholder |
{{Infobox officeholder |
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| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]] |
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]] |
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| name = The Earl of Liverpool |
| name = The Earl of Liverpool |
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| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KG|PC|FRS}} |
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KG|PC|FRS}} |
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| image = File:Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool.jpg |
| image = File:Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) - Robert Banks Jenkinson (1770-1828), 2nd Earl of Liverpool - RCIN 404930 - Royal Collection.jpg |
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| alt = Oil painting by Thomas Lawrence |
| alt = Oil painting by Thomas Lawrence |
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| caption = Portrait by [[Thomas Lawrence]], {{circa| |
| caption = ''[[Portrait of Lord Liverpool]]'' by [[Thomas Lawrence]], {{circa|1820}} |
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| office = [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] |
| office = [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] |
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| term_start = 8 June 1812 |
| term_start = 8 June 1812 |
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| predecessor6 = [[Charles Philip Yorke]] |
| predecessor6 = [[Charles Philip Yorke]] |
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| successor6 = The Earl Spencer |
| successor6 = The Earl Spencer |
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| office7 = [[ |
| office7 = [[Foreign Secretary]] |
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| term_start7 = 20 February 1801 |
| term_start7 = 20 February 1801 |
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| term_end7 = 14 May 1804 |
| term_end7 = 14 May 1804 |
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| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1828|12|4|1770|6|7}} |
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1828|12|4|1770|6|7}} |
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| death_place = [[Kingston upon Thames]], [[Surrey]], England |
| death_place = [[Kingston upon Thames]], [[Surrey]], England |
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| resting_place = Hawkesbury Parish Church, [[Gloucestershire]], England |
| resting_place = [[Church of St Mary, Hawkesbury|Hawkesbury Parish Church]], [[Gloucestershire]], England |
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| parents = [[Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool|Charles Jenkinson]] (father) |
| parents = [[Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool|Charles Jenkinson]] (father) |
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| spouse = {{plainlist}} |
| spouse = {{plainlist}} |
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As prime minister, Jenkinson called for repressive measures at domestic level to maintain order after the [[Peterloo Massacre]] of 1819. He dealt smoothly with [[the Prince Regent]] when [[King George III]] was incapacitated. He also steered the country through the period of [[Classical radicalism|radicalism]] and unrest that followed the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. He favoured commercial and manufacturing interests as well as the landed interest. He sought a compromise of the heated issue of [[Catholic emancipation]]. The revival of the economy strengthened his political position. By the 1820s, he was the leader of a reform faction of "Liberal Tories" who lowered the tariff, abolished the [[death penalty]] for many offences, and reformed the [[criminal law]]. By the time of his death, however, the [[Tories (British political party)|Tory party]], which had dominated the House of Commons for over 40 years, was ripping itself apart. |
As prime minister, Jenkinson called for repressive measures at domestic level to maintain order after the [[Peterloo Massacre]] of 1819. He dealt smoothly with [[the Prince Regent]] when [[King George III]] was incapacitated. He also steered the country through the period of [[Classical radicalism|radicalism]] and unrest that followed the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. He favoured commercial and manufacturing interests as well as the landed interest. He sought a compromise of the heated issue of [[Catholic emancipation]]. The revival of the economy strengthened his political position. By the 1820s, he was the leader of a reform faction of "Liberal Tories" who lowered the tariff, abolished the [[death penalty]] for many offences, and reformed the [[criminal law]]. By the time of his death, however, the [[Tories (British political party)|Tory party]], which had dominated the House of Commons for over 40 years, was ripping itself apart. |
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Important events during his tenure as prime minister included the [[War of 1812]] with the United States, the [[War of the Sixth Coalition|Sixth]] and [[Hundred Days|Seventh Coalitions]] against the [[First French Empire|French Empire]], the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars at the [[Congress of Vienna]], the [[Corn Laws]], the Peterloo Massacre, the [[Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813|Trinitarian Act 1812]] and the emerging issue of Catholic emancipation. |
Important events during his tenure as prime minister included the [[War of 1812]] with the United States, the [[War of the Sixth Coalition|Sixth]] and [[Hundred Days|Seventh Coalitions]] against the [[First French Empire|French Empire]], the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars at the [[Congress of Vienna]], the [[Corn Laws]], the [[Peterloo Massacre]] against pro-[[democracy]] protestors, the [[Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813|Trinitarian Act 1812]] and the emerging issue of Catholic emancipation. Despite being called "the Arch-mediocrity" by a later [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] prime minister, [[Benjamin Disraeli]], scholars rank him highly among all British prime ministers.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Paul Strangio|author2=Paul 't Hart|author3=James Walter|title=Understanding Prime-Ministerial Performance: Comparative Perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kMu2nAZmMbEC&pg=PA225|year=2013|publisher=Oxford UP|page=225|isbn=978-0-19-966642-3}}</ref> |
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==Early life== |
==Early life== |
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Jenkinson was educated at [[Charterhouse School]] and matriculated at [[Christ Church, Oxford]], in 1787.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref>{{alox2|title=Jenkinson, Robert Bankes}}</ref> In the summer of 1789, Jenkinson spent four months in Paris to perfect his French and enlarge his social experience. He returned to Oxford for three months to complete his terms of residence, and in May 1790 was created Master of Arts. |
Jenkinson was educated at [[Charterhouse School]] and matriculated at [[Christ Church, Oxford]], in 1787.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref>{{alox2|title=Jenkinson, Robert Bankes}}</ref> In the summer of 1789, Jenkinson spent four months in Paris to perfect his French and enlarge his social experience. He returned to Oxford for three months to complete his terms of residence, and in May 1790 was created Master of Arts. |
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[[Image:2nd Earl of Liverpool 1790s.jpg|thumb|left|upright| |
[[Image:2nd Earl of Liverpool 1790s.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''[[Portrait of Lord Hawkesbury]]'' by [[Thomas Lawrence|Lawrence]], 1796]] |
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== Early career (1790–1812)== |
== Early career (1790–1812)== |
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===House of Commons=== |
===House of Commons=== |
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With the help of his father's influence and his political talent, he rose relatively |
With the help of his father's influence, and his political talent, he rose relatively quickly in the Tory government. In February 1792 he gave the reply to [[Samuel Whitbread (1764–1815)|Samuel Whitbread]]'s critical motion on the government's Russian policy. He delivered several other speeches during the session and was a strong opposer of abolitionism and [[William Wilberforce]]. He served as a member of the Board of Control for India from 1793 to 1796. |
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In the defence movement that followed the outbreak of hostilities with France, Jenkinson |
In the defence movement that followed the outbreak of hostilities with France, Jenkinson was one of the first of the ministers of the government to enlist in the militia. He became a [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|colonel]] in the [[Cinque Ports Fencibles]] in 1794, his military duties leading to frequent absences from the Commons. His regiment was sent to Scotland in 1796 and he was quartered for a time in [[Dumfries]]. |
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In 1797 |
In 1797 the then Lord Hawkesbury was the cavalry commander of the Cinque Ports Light Dragoons who ran amok following a protest against the [[Militia Act 1797|Militia Act]] at [[Tranent]] in [[East Lothian]], twelve civilians being killed. Author James Miller wrote in 1844 that "His lordship was blamed for remaining at [[Haddington, East Lothian|Haddington]], as his presence might have prevented the outrages of the soldiery."<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/506.html|last=Miller |first=James |date=1844 |title=The Lamp of Lothian, or, The history of Haddington: in connection with the public affairs of East Lothian and of Scotland, from the earliest records to the present period|chapter=Dreadful Riot and Military Massacre at Tranent, on the First Balloting for the Scots Militia for the County of Haddington |location=Haddington |publisher=James Allan |via=Scottish Mining}}</ref> |
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His parliamentary attendance also suffered from his reaction when his father angrily opposed his projected marriage with [[Louisa Jenkinson, Countess of Liverpool|Lady Louisa Hervey]], daughter of the [[Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol|Earl of Bristol]]. After Pitt and the King had intervened on his behalf |
His parliamentary attendance also suffered from his reaction when his father angrily opposed his projected marriage with [[Louisa Jenkinson, Countess of Liverpool|Lady Louisa Hervey]], daughter of the [[Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol|Earl of Bristol]]. After Pitt and the King had intervened on his behalf the wedding finally took place at [[Wimbledon, London|Wimbledon]] on 25 March 1795. In May 1796, when his father was created Earl of Liverpool, he took the courtesy title of '''Lord Hawkesbury''' and remained in the Commons. He became '''Baron Hawkesbury''' in his own right and was elevated to the House of Lords in November 1803 in recognition for his work as Foreign Secretary.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} He also served as [[Master of the Mint]] (1799–1801).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} |
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===Cabinet=== |
===Cabinet=== |
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Lord Liverpool (as he had now become by the death of his father in December 1808) accepted the position of [[Secretary of State for War and the Colonies]] in [[Spencer Perceval]]'s government in 1809. Liverpool's first step on taking up his new post was to elicit from General [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]] (the future Duke of Wellington) a strong enough statement of his ability to resist a French attack to persuade the cabinet to commit themselves to the maintenance of his small force in [[Portugal]]. In 1810 Liverpool was made a colonel of militia.<ref>[https://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1790-1820/member/jenkinson-hon-robert-banks-1770-1828 JENKINSON, Hon. Robert Banks (1770–1828), of Coombe Wood, nr. Kingston, Surr. {{!}} History of Parliament Online] "The History of Parliament" article by R. G. Thorne</ref> |
Lord Liverpool (as he had now become by the death of his father in December 1808) accepted the position of [[Secretary of State for War and the Colonies]] in [[Spencer Perceval]]'s government in 1809. Liverpool's first step on taking up his new post was to elicit from General [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]] (the future Duke of Wellington) a strong enough statement of his ability to resist a French attack to persuade the cabinet to commit themselves to the maintenance of his small force in [[Portugal]]. In 1810 Liverpool was made a colonel of militia.<ref>[https://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1790-1820/member/jenkinson-hon-robert-banks-1770-1828 JENKINSON, Hon. Robert Banks (1770–1828), of Coombe Wood, nr. Kingston, Surr. {{!}} History of Parliament Online] "The History of Parliament" article by R. G. Thorne</ref> |
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==Prime |
==Prime minister<span class="anchor" id="Premiership"></span><!-- linked from redirects [[Premiership of Lord Liverpool]], [[Premiership of Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool]], [[Premiership of the Earl of Liverpool]], [[Prime ministership of Lord Liverpool]], [[Prime ministership of the Earl of Liverpool]] --> (1812–1827)== |
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=== Appointment === |
=== Appointment === |
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{{Further|Liverpool ministry}} |
{{Further|Liverpool ministry}} |
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==== Congress of Vienna ==== |
==== Congress of Vienna ==== |
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[[File:Congress of Vienna.PNG|thumb|left|''The Congress of Vienna'' by [[Jean-Baptiste Isabey]], 1819]] |
[[File:Congress of Vienna.PNG|thumb|left|''The Congress of Vienna'' by [[Jean-Baptiste Isabey]], 1819]] |
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Liverpool's ministry was a long and eventful one. At the beginning of his premiership, Liverpool was faced directly with conflict, the [[War of 1812]] with the United States and the final campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars were fought during Liverpool's governance. It was during his ministry that the Peninsular Campaigns were fought, where the British army led by the [[Duke of Wellington]] drove the French out of [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]] that lasted six years. France was utterly defeated in the |
Liverpool's ministry was a long and eventful one. At the beginning of his premiership, Liverpool was faced directly with conflict, the [[War of 1812]] with the United States and the final campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars were fought during Liverpool's governance. It was during his ministry that the Peninsular Campaigns were fought, where the British army led by the [[Duke of Wellington]] drove the French out of [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]] that lasted six years. France was utterly defeated in the Napoleonic Wars, and Liverpool was appointed to the [[Order of the Garter]] that same year. At the peace negotiations that followed, Liverpool's main concern was to obtain a European settlement that would ensure the independence of the [[Netherlands]], Spain and [[Portugal]], and confine France inside its pre-war frontiers without damaging its national integrity. To achieve this, he was ready to return all British colonial conquests. Within this broad framework, he gave [[Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh|Castlereagh]] a discretion at the [[Congress of Vienna]], the next most important event of his ministry. At the congress, he gave prompt approval for Castlereagh's bold initiative in making the defensive alliance with [[Austria]] and France in January 1815. In the aftermath of the defeat of Napoleon – who had briefly been exiled to the island [[Elba]], but had [[Hundred Days|escaped exile and returned to rule France]]. The allies immediately began mobilising their armies to fight the escaped emperor and a combined Anglo-Allied army was sent under the commandof Wellington to assist Britain's allies. Withina few months, Napoleon was decisively defeated at [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]] in June that year, after many years of war, peace followed through the now exhausted continent. |
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[[File:BritishEmpire1815.png|thumb|The [[British Empire]] at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815]] |
[[File:BritishEmpire1815.png|thumb|The [[British Empire]] at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815]] |
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The decision of 1812 to remove the issue from collective cabinet policy, followed in 1813 by the defeat of Grattan's Roman [[Catholic Relief Bill]], brought a period of calm. Liverpool supported marginal concessions such as the admittance of English Roman Catholics to the higher ranks of the armed forces, the magistracy, and the parliamentary franchise; but he remained opposed to their participation in parliament itself. In the 1820s, pressure from the liberal wing of the Commons and the rise of the Catholic Association in Ireland revived the controversy. |
The decision of 1812 to remove the issue from collective cabinet policy, followed in 1813 by the defeat of Grattan's Roman [[Catholic Relief Bill]], brought a period of calm. Liverpool supported marginal concessions such as the admittance of English Roman Catholics to the higher ranks of the armed forces, the magistracy, and the parliamentary franchise; but he remained opposed to their participation in parliament itself. In the 1820s, pressure from the liberal wing of the Commons and the rise of the Catholic Association in Ireland revived the controversy. |
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By the date of Sir Francis Burdett's Catholic Relief Bill in 1825, emancipation looked a likely success. Indeed, the success of the bill in the Commons in April, followed by [[Robert Peel]]'s tender of resignation, finally persuaded Liverpool that he should retire. When Canning made a formal proposal that the cabinet should back the bill, Liverpool was convinced that his administration had come to its end. [[George Canning]] then succeeded him as |
By the date of Sir Francis Burdett's Catholic Relief Bill in 1825, emancipation looked a likely success. Indeed, the success of the bill in the Commons in April, followed by [[Robert Peel]]'s tender of resignation, finally persuaded Liverpool that he should retire. When Canning made a formal proposal that the cabinet should back the bill, Liverpool was convinced that his administration had come to its end. [[George Canning]] then succeeded him as prime minister. Catholic emancipation however was not fully implemented until the major changes of the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829]] under the leadership of the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]] and [[Sir Robert Peel]], and with the work of the [[Catholic Association]] established in 1823.<ref>Richard W. Davis, "Wellington and the 'Open Question': The Issue of Catholic Emancipation, 1821–1829", ''Albion'', (1997) 29#1 pp 39–55. {{doi|10.2307/4051594}}</ref> |
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==Retirement and death== |
==Retirement and death== |
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[[John W. Derry]] says Jenkinson was: {{blockquote|[{{uc:a}}] capable and intelligent statesman, whose skill in building up his party, leading the country to victory in the war against Napoleon, and laying the foundations for prosperity outweighed his unpopularity in the immediate post-Waterloo years.<ref>{{cite book |editor=John Cannon|title=The Oxford Companion to British History|year=2009|page=582}}{{ISBN missing|date=December 2020}}</ref>}} |
[[John W. Derry]] says Jenkinson was: {{blockquote|[{{uc:a}}] capable and intelligent statesman, whose skill in building up his party, leading the country to victory in the war against Napoleon, and laying the foundations for prosperity outweighed his unpopularity in the immediate post-Waterloo years.<ref>{{cite book |editor=John Cannon|title=The Oxford Companion to British History|year=2009|page=582}}{{ISBN missing|date=December 2020}}</ref>}} |
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Jenkinson was the first British |
Jenkinson was the first British prime minister to regularly wear long trousers instead of [[breeches]]. He entered office at the age of 42 years and one day, making him younger than all of his successors. Liverpool served as prime minister for a total of 14 years and 305 days, making him the longest-serving prime minister of the 19th century. As of 2023, none of Liverpool's successors has served longer. |
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In [[London]], Liverpool Street and [[Liverpool Road]], Islington, are named after Lord Liverpool. The Canadian town of [[Hawkesbury, Ontario]], the [[Hawkesbury River]] and the [[Liverpool Plains]], New South Wales, Australia, [[Liverpool, New South Wales|Liverpool]], New South Wales, and the [[Liverpool River]] in the [[Northern Territory]] of Australia were also named after Lord Liverpool.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/view.jsp?id=14550|title=Place Names Register Extract – Liverpool River|access-date=2 May 2015|work=NT Place Names Register|publisher=Northern Territory Government}}</ref> |
In [[London]], Liverpool Street and [[Liverpool Road]], Islington, are named after Lord Liverpool. The Canadian town of [[Hawkesbury, Ontario]], the [[Hawkesbury River]] and the [[Liverpool Plains]], New South Wales, Australia, [[Liverpool, New South Wales|Liverpool]], New South Wales, and the [[Liverpool River]] in the [[Northern Territory]] of Australia were also named after Lord Liverpool.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/view.jsp?id=14550|title=Place Names Register Extract – Liverpool River|access-date=2 May 2015|work=NT Place Names Register|publisher=Northern Territory Government}}</ref> |
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==Lord Liverpool's ministry (1812–1827)== |
==Lord Liverpool's ministry (1812–1827)== |
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[[File:Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool.jpg|thumb|Lord Liverpool by Thomas Lawrence, c.1827]] |
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* Lord Liverpool – [[First Lord of the Treasury]] and [[Leader of the House of Lords]] |
* Lord Liverpool – [[First Lord of the Treasury]] and [[Leader of the House of Lords]] |
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* [[John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon|Lord Eldon]] – [[Lord Chancellor]] |
* [[John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon|Lord Eldon]] – [[Lord Chancellor]] |
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{{DNB poster|Jenkinson, Robert Banks}} |
{{DNB poster|Jenkinson, Robert Banks}} |
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* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-robert-jenkinson | the Earl of Liverpool }} |
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-robert-jenkinson | the Earl of Liverpool }} |
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081112092953/http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/earl-of-liverpool Earl of Liverpool] Prime Minister's Office |
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081112092953/http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/earl-of-liverpool Earl of Liverpool] Prime Minister's Office (archived 12 November 2008) |
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081112092953/http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/earl-of-liverpool "Earl of Liverpool" by Prime Minister's Office] |
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081112092953/http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/earl-of-liverpool "Earl of Liverpool" by Prime Minister's Office] (archived 12 November 2008) |
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* {{NPG name}} |
* {{NPG name}} |
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* {{UK National Archives ID}} |
* {{UK National Archives ID}} |
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[[Category:People educated at Charterhouse School]] |
[[Category:People educated at Charterhouse School]] |
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[[Category:People from Westminster]] |
[[Category:People from Westminster]] |
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[[Category:Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom]] |
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[[Category:Secretaries of State for the Home Department]] |
[[Category:Secretaries of State for the Home Department]] |
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[[Category:Secretaries of State for War and the Colonies]] |
[[Category:Secretaries of State for War and the Colonies]] |
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The Earl of Liverpool
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
| In office 8 June 1812 – 9 April 1827 | |
| Monarchs |
|
| Regent | George, Prince Regent (1812–1820) |
| Preceded by | Spencer Perceval |
| Succeeded by | George Canning |
| Secretary of State for War and the Colonies | |
| In office 1 November 1809 – 11 June 1812 | |
| Prime Minister | Spencer Perceval |
| Preceded by | The Viscount Castlereagh |
| Succeeded by | The Earl Bathurst |
| Leader of the House of Lords | |
| In office 25 March 1807 – 9 April 1827 | |
| Prime Minister |
|
| Preceded by | The Lord Grenville |
| Succeeded by | The Viscount Goderich |
| In office 17 August 1803 – 5 February 1806 | |
| Prime Minister |
|
| Preceded by | The Lord Pelham |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Grenville |
| Home Secretary | |
| In office 25 March 1807 – 1 November 1809 | |
| Prime Minister | The Duke of Portland |
| Preceded by | The Earl Spencer |
| Succeeded by | Richard Ryder |
| In office 12 May 1804 – 5 February 1806 | |
| Prime Minister | William Pitt the Younger |
| Preceded by | Charles Philip Yorke |
| Succeeded by | The Earl Spencer |
| Foreign Secretary | |
| In office 20 February 1801 – 14 May 1804 | |
| Prime Minister | Henry Addington |
| Preceded by | The Lord Grenville |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Harrowby |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Banks Jenkinson (1770-06-07)7 June 1770 London, England |
| Died | 4 December 1828(1828-12-04) (aged 58) Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England |
| Resting place | Hawkesbury Parish Church, Gloucestershire, England |
| Political party | Tory |
| Spouses |
(m. 1795; died 1821)
(m. 1822) |
| Parent | Charles Jenkinson (father) |
| Education | Charterhouse School |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
| Signature |  |
| |
Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, KG, PC, FRS (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. He also held many other important cabinet offices such as Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary and Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. He was also a member of the House of Lords and served as leader.
As prime minister, Jenkinson called for repressive measures at domestic level to maintain order after the Peterloo Massacre of 1819. He dealt smoothly with the Prince Regent when King George III was incapacitated. He also steered the country through the period of radicalism and unrest that followed the Napoleonic Wars. He favoured commercial and manufacturing interests as well as the landed interest. He sought a compromise of the heated issue of Catholic emancipation. The revival of the economy strengthened his political position. By the 1820s, he was the leader of a reform faction of "Liberal Tories" who lowered the tariff, abolished the death penalty for many offences, and reformed the criminal law. By the time of his death, however, the Tory party, which had dominated the House of Commons for over 40 years, was ripping itself apart.
Important events during his tenure as prime minister included the War of 1812 with the United States, the Sixth and Seventh Coalitions against the French Empire, the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars at the Congress of Vienna, the Corn Laws, the Peterloo Massacre against pro-democracy protestors, the Trinitarian Act 1812 and the emerging issue of Catholic emancipation. Despite being called "the Arch-mediocrity" by a later Conservative prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, scholars rank him highly among all British prime ministers.[1]
Jenkinson was baptised on 29 June 1770 at St. Margaret's, Westminster, the son of George III's close adviser Charles Jenkinson, later the first Earl of Liverpool, and his first wife, Amelia Watts. Jenkinson's 19-year-old mother, who was the daughter of a senior East India Company official, William Watts, and of his wife Begum Johnson, died from the effects of childbirth one month after his birth.[2] Through his mother's grandmother, Isabella Beizor, Jenkinson was descended from Portuguese settlers in India; he may also have been one-sixteenth Indian in ancestry.[3][4][5]
Jenkinson was educated at Charterhouse School and matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1787.[6][7] In the summer of 1789, Jenkinson spent four months in Paris to perfect his French and enlarge his social experience. He returned to Oxford for three months to complete his terms of residence, and in May 1790 was created Master of Arts.
He won election to the House of Commons in 1790 for Rye, a seat he would hold until 1803; at the time, however, he was below the age of assent to Parliament, so he refrained from taking his seat and spent the following winter and early spring in an extended tour of Continental Europe. This tour took in the Netherlands and Italy; at its conclusion he was old enough to take his seat in Parliament. It is not clear exactly when he entered the Commons, but as his twenty-first birthday was not reached until almost the end of the 1791 session, it is possible that he waited until the following year.
With the help of his father's influence, and his political talent, he rose relatively quickly in the Tory government. In February 1792 he gave the reply to Samuel Whitbread's critical motion on the government's Russian policy. He delivered several other speeches during the session and was a strong opposer of abolitionism and William Wilberforce. He served as a member of the Board of Control for India from 1793 to 1796.
In the defence movement that followed the outbreak of hostilities with France, Jenkinson was one of the first of the ministers of the government to enlist in the militia. He became a colonel in the Cinque Ports Fencibles in 1794, his military duties leading to frequent absences from the Commons. His regiment was sent to Scotland in 1796 and he was quartered for a time in Dumfries.
In 1797 the then Lord Hawkesbury was the cavalry commander of the Cinque Ports Light Dragoons who ran amok following a protest against the Militia ActatTranentinEast Lothian, twelve civilians being killed. Author James Miller wrote in 1844 that "His lordship was blamed for remaining at Haddington, as his presence might have prevented the outrages of the soldiery."[8]
His parliamentary attendance also suffered from his reaction when his father angrily opposed his projected marriage with Lady Louisa Hervey, daughter of the Earl of Bristol. After Pitt and the King had intervened on his behalf the wedding finally took place at Wimbledon on 25 March 1795. In May 1796, when his father was created Earl of Liverpool, he took the courtesy title of Lord Hawkesbury and remained in the Commons. He became Baron Hawkesbury in his own right and was elevated to the House of Lords in November 1803 in recognition for his work as Foreign Secretary.[citation needed] He also served as Master of the Mint (1799–1801).[6]
InHenry Addington's government, he entered the cabinet in 1801 as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in which capacity he negotiated the Treaty of Amiens with France.[9] Most of his time as Foreign Secretary was spent dealing with the nations of France and the United States. He continued to serve in the cabinet as Home SecretaryinPitt the Younger's second government. While Pitt was seriously ill, Liverpool was in charge of the cabinet and drew up the King's Speech for the official opening of Parliament. When William Pitt died in 1806, the King asked Liverpool to accept the post of Prime Minister, but he refused, as he believed he lacked a governing majority. He was then made leader of the Opposition during Lord Grenville's ministry (the only time that Liverpool did not hold government office between 1793 and after his retirement). In 1807, he resumed office as Home Secretaryinthe Duke of Portland's ministry.[6]
Lord Liverpool (as he had now become by the death of his father in December 1808) accepted the position of Secretary of State for War and the ColoniesinSpencer Perceval's government in 1809. Liverpool's first step on taking up his new post was to elicit from General Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington) a strong enough statement of his ability to resist a French attack to persuade the cabinet to commit themselves to the maintenance of his small force in Portugal. In 1810 Liverpool was made a colonel of militia.[10]
After the Assassination of Spencer Perceval in May 1812, George, the Prince Regent, successively tried to appoint four men to succeed Perceval, but failed. Jenkinson, the Prince Regent's fifth choice for the post, reluctantly accepted office on 8 June 1812.[11][6] Jenkinson was proposed as successor by the cabinet office and Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh who acted as leader in the House of Commons. The Prince Regent, however, found it impossible to form a different coalition to advance an alternative candidate and confirmed Jenkinson as prime minister on 8 June.
Liverpool's government included some of the future leaders of Britain, such as Lord Castlereagh, George Canning, the Duke of Wellington, Robert Peel, and William Huskisson. Liverpool was considered an experienced and skilled politician, and held together the liberal and reactionary wings of the Tory party, which his successors, Canning, Goderich and Wellington, had great difficulty with.
Liverpool's ministry was a long and eventful one. At the beginning of his premiership, Liverpool was faced directly with conflict, the War of 1812 with the United States and the final campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars were fought during Liverpool's governance. It was during his ministry that the Peninsular Campaigns were fought, where the British army led by the Duke of Wellington drove the French out of Spain and Portugal that lasted six years. France was utterly defeated in the Napoleonic Wars, and Liverpool was appointed to the Order of the Garter that same year. At the peace negotiations that followed, Liverpool's main concern was to obtain a European settlement that would ensure the independence of the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal, and confine France inside its pre-war frontiers without damaging its national integrity. To achieve this, he was ready to return all British colonial conquests. Within this broad framework, he gave Castlereagh a discretion at the Congress of Vienna, the next most important event of his ministry. At the congress, he gave prompt approval for Castlereagh's bold initiative in making the defensive alliance with Austria and France in January 1815. In the aftermath of the defeat of Napoleon – who had briefly been exiled to the island Elba, but had escaped exile and returned to rule France. The allies immediately began mobilising their armies to fight the escaped emperor and a combined Anglo-Allied army was sent under the command of Wellington to assist Britain's allies. Within a few months, Napoleon was decisively defeated at Waterloo in June that year, after many years of war, peace followed through the now exhausted continent.
Inevitably taxes rose to compensate for borrowing and to pay off the national debt, which led to widespread disturbance between 1812 and 1822. Around this time, the group known as Luddites began industrial action, by smashing industrial machines developed for use in the textile industries of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. Throughout the period 1811–1816, there was a series of incidents of machine-breaking and many of those convicted faced execution.[9]
Agriculture remained a problem because good harvests between 1819 and 1822 had brought down prices and evoked a cry for greater protection. When the powerful agricultural lobby in Parliament demanded protection in the aftermath, Liverpool gave in to political necessity. Under governmental supervision the notorious Corn Laws of 1815 were passed prohibiting the import of foreign wheat until the domestic price reached a minimum accepted level. Liverpool, however, was in principle a free-trader, but had to accept the bill as a temporary measure to ease the transition to peacetime conditions. His chief economic problem during his time as Prime Minister was that of the nation's finances.[citation needed]
The interest on the national debt, massively swollen by the enormous expenditure of the final war years, together with the war pensions, absorbed the greater part of normal government revenue. The refusal of the House of Commons in 1816 to continue the wartime income tax left ministers with no immediate alternative but to go on with the ruinous system of borrowing to meet necessary annual expenditure. Liverpool eventually facilitated a return to the gold standard in 1819.[citation needed]
Liverpool argued for the abolition of the wider slave trade at the Congress of Vienna, and at home he supported the repeal of the Combination Laws banning workers from combining into trade unions in 1824.[12] In the latter year the newly formed Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, later the RNLI, obtained Liverpool as its first president.[13]
The reports of the secret committees he obtained in 1817 pointed to the existence of an organised network of disaffected political societies, especially in the manufacturing areas. Liverpool told Peel that the disaffection in the country seemed even worse than in 1794. Because of a largely perceived threat to the government, temporary legislation was introduced. 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. In 1820, as a result of these measures, Liverpool and other cabinet ministers were targeted for assassination. They escaped harm when the Cato Street conspiracy was foiled.[14]
During the 19th century, and, in particular, during Liverpool's time in office, Catholic emancipation was a source of great conflict. In 1805, in his first important statement of his views on the subject, Liverpool had argued that the special relationship of the monarch with the Church of England, and the refusal of Roman Catholics to take the oath of supremacy, justified their exclusion from political power. Throughout his career, he remained opposed to the idea of Catholic emancipation, though he did see marginal concessions as important to the stability of the nation.
The decision of 1812 to remove the issue from collective cabinet policy, followed in 1813 by the defeat of Grattan's Roman Catholic Relief Bill, brought a period of calm. Liverpool supported marginal concessions such as the admittance of English Roman Catholics to the higher ranks of the armed forces, the magistracy, and the parliamentary franchise; but he remained opposed to their participation in parliament itself. In the 1820s, pressure from the liberal wing of the Commons and the rise of the Catholic Association in Ireland revived the controversy.
By the date of Sir Francis Burdett's Catholic Relief Bill in 1825, emancipation looked a likely success. Indeed, the success of the bill in the Commons in April, followed by Robert Peel's tender of resignation, finally persuaded Liverpool that he should retire. When Canning made a formal proposal that the cabinet should back the bill, Liverpool was convinced that his administration had come to its end. George Canning then succeeded him as prime minister. Catholic emancipation however was not fully implemented until the major changes of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 under the leadership of the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel, and with the work of the Catholic Association established in 1823.[15]
Jenkinson's first wife, Louisa, died at 54. He married again on 24 September 1822 to Mary Jenkinson, Countess of Liverpool.[16] Jenkinson finally retired on 9 April 1827 after suffering a severe cerebral hemorrhage at his Fife House residence in Whitehall two months earlier,[17] and asked the King to seek a successor. He suffered another minor stroke in July, after which he lingered on at Coombe, Kingston upon Thames until a third attack on 4 December 1828 from which he died.[18] Having died childless, he was succeeded as Earl of Liverpool by his younger half-brother Charles Jenkinson, 3rd Earl of Liverpool. Jenkinson was buried in Church of St Mary, Hawkesbury beside his father and his first wife.
Robert William Seton-Watson sums up Jenkinson's strengths and weaknesses:
No one would claim Liverpool as a man of genius, but he had qualities of tact, firmness and endurance to which historians have rarely done full justice: and thus it came about that he held the office of Premier over a period more than twice as long as any other successor of Pitt, long after peace had been restored to Europe. One reason for his ascendancy was that he had an unrivalled insight into the whole machinery of government, having filled successively every Secretaryship of State, and tested the efficiency and mutual relations of politicians and officials alike.... He had a much wider acquaintance with foreign affairs than many who have held his high office.[19]
John W. Derry says Jenkinson was:
[A] capable and intelligent statesman, whose skill in building up his party, leading the country to victory in the war against Napoleon, and laying the foundations for prosperity outweighed his unpopularity in the immediate post-Waterloo years.[20]
Jenkinson was the first British prime minister to regularly wear long trousers instead of breeches. He entered office at the age of 42 years and one day, making him younger than all of his successors. Liverpool served as prime minister for a total of 14 years and 305 days, making him the longest-serving prime minister of the 19th century. As of 2023, none of Liverpool's successors has served longer.
InLondon, Liverpool Street and Liverpool Road, Islington, are named after Lord Liverpool. The Canadian town of Hawkesbury, Ontario, the Hawkesbury River and the Liverpool Plains, New South Wales, Australia, Liverpool, New South Wales, and the Liverpool River in the Northern Territory of Australia were also named after Lord Liverpool.[21]
Lord Liverpool, as Prime Minister to whose government Nathan Mayer Rothschild was a lender, was portrayed by American actor Gilbert Emery in the 1934 film The House of Rothschild.
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Appleby 1790 With: Richard Ford |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Rye 1790–1801 With: Charles Long 1790–1796 Robert Dundas 1796–1801 |
Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain |
Member of Parliament for Rye 1801–1803 With: Sir John Blaquiere 1801–1802 Thomas Davis Lamb 1802–1803 |
Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Master of the Mint 1799–1801 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Foreign Secretary 1801–1804 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the House of Lords 1803–1806 |
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| Preceded by | Home Secretary 1804–1806 |
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| Preceded by | Home Secretary 1807–1809 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the House of Lords 1807–1827 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1809–1812 |
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| Preceded by | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 8 June 1812 – 9 April 1827 |
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| Preceded by | Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports 1806–1827 |
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| Preceded by | Earl of Liverpool 1808–1828 |
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