Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool

Lore & Background

Liverpool's fifteen years as prime minister saw his guiding Britain to victory in the Napoleonic Wars and ushering in a lasting postwar peace, but also produced unrest and radicalism at home. During the first part of his premiership, repressive measures were taken to restore order at home, the Corn Laws were introduced and income tax was repealed. In the 1820s his leadership became more liberal, and the period saw a reform of the criminal law and prisons. Throughout his tenure as prime minister, Liverpool sought a compromise over the issue of Catholic emancipation. He resigned following a stroke in April 1827. Important events during Liverpool's premiership included the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, the Congress of Vienna, the 1812–1814 war with America, the Peterloo massacre, the failed Cato Street Conspiracy and the Queen Caroline affair. Liverpool, known as Jenkinson until 1803 and as Hawkesbury from 1803 to 1808, was the son of Tory politician Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool. He was educated at Charterhouse School and Christ Church, Oxford. Twice married, he had no children; on his death the earldom passed to his younger half-brother.

Reader's Guide

Having spent a summer in Paris, where he witnessed the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, Jenkinson was created a Master of Arts at Oxford in May 1790.

Did You Know?

• He was baptised on 29 June 1770 at St. Margaret's, Westminster.
• Through his mother's maternal grandmother, Isabella Beizor, Jenkinson was descended from Portuguese settlers in India, and he may also have had Indian ancestors.
• He formed a lifelong friendship with George Canning at Oxford, though they were sometimes political rivals.
• He was colonel of the Cinque Ports Light Dragoons, a fencible cavalry regiment, in 1794.