56S 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



the patent place of clerk of the pells 

 in Ireland, which had constituted 

 part of that gentleman's patrimony, 

 and next year was appointed mas- 

 ter of the Mint, in the room of 

 lord Cadogan. In 1778, he was 

 elevated to the more important post 

 of secretary at war, in which situa- 

 tion we find him in 1780, and 1781, 

 defending the estimates of the 

 army, in the House of Commons. 

 The contests between the friends 

 of Mr. Jenkinson and opposition, 

 now became critical ; the majo- 

 rities which had implicitly voted 

 with the ministry, were reduced in 

 every division, and at last aban- 

 doned a premier, who tottered on 

 the treasury bench. Mr. Jenkin- 

 son thought he had now ample 

 leisure to compile his collection of 

 treaties; but he was soon, by 

 another change in politics, called 

 back from his literary labours, into 

 active life, and took a decided part 

 in behalf of Mr. Pitt. In conse- 

 quence of his exertions on this oc- 

 casion, in 1786, he was nominated 

 to the lucrative post of chancellor 

 of the duchy of Lancaster, created 

 baronofHawkesbury, in the county 

 of Gloucester, and appointed presi- 

 dent of the committee of council 

 for the affairs of trade and planta- 

 tions. For the last situation, his 

 lordship's regular and progressive 

 rise, added to the various offices in 

 which he had acted, admirably qua- 

 lified him. Further emoluments 

 were, however, reserved for him, 

 for in 1790, on the decease of his 

 relation, the late Sir Banks Jenkin- 

 son, who held the lucrative patent 

 place of collector of the customs 

 inwards, he procured the grant. 

 Nothing can more clearly demon- 

 strate his great influence than that 

 occurrence ; for this was one of the 

 sinecures which the premier had all 



along declared his intention to abo- 

 lish. To these favours in 1796, 

 was added that of earl of Liver- 

 pool, on which creation he was au- 

 thorized by his majesty to quarter 

 the arms of that commercial city 

 with those of his own family. As 

 an orator, his lordship spoke but 

 seldom, either in the House of 

 Commons or Peers, and of late 

 years he had attended but little to 

 public business, in consequence of 

 his advanced age and infirmities. — 

 Besides the works which have al- 

 ready been mentioned, his lordship 

 was the author of the following : — 

 " A Collection of all Treaties of 

 Peace, Alliance, and Commerce 

 between Great Britain and other 

 Powers, from the Treaty of Mun- 

 ster in le^B, to the Treaties signed 

 at Paris in 1783," 3 vols. 8vo. 

 (1785) ; and, " A Treatise on the 

 Coins of England, in a Letter to 

 the King," 4to. (1805). What- 

 ever odium may be attached by 

 his political enemies, to the ge- 

 neral line of conduct adopted by 

 this nobleman, they will not deny 

 that he deserved great praise 

 for the attention which he always 

 bestowed on the trade of this 

 country. Among other things, 

 he drew up the treaty of commer- 

 cial intercourse with America, 

 and is also said, not only to have 

 pointed out, but to have created 

 the whale fishery in the South 

 Seas. His lordship was married, 

 for the first time, in 1769, to Miss 

 Amelia Watts, daughter of the go- 

 vernor of Fort William, in Bengal, 

 by whom he had a son, the present 

 earl ; and secondly, in 1782, to Ca- 

 tharine, daughter of the late Sir 

 Cecil Bishop, bart. and widow of 

 Sir Charles Cope, by whom he has 

 left a son and daughter, the hon. 

 Charles Cecil Cope Jenkinson,M.P. 



for 



