| Honorific-Prefix: | The Right Honourable |
| The Earl of Liverpool | |
| Office: | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |
| Term Start: | 8 June 1812 |
| Term End: | 9 April 1827 |
| 1Blankname: | Regent |
| Predecessor: | Spencer Perceval |
| Successor: | George Canning |
| Office2: | Secretary of State for War and the Colonies |
| Term Start2: | 1 November 1809 |
| Term End2: | 11 June 1812 |
| Primeminister2: | Spencer Perceval |
| Predecessor2: | The Viscount Castlereagh |
| Successor2: | The Earl Bathurst |
| Office3: | Leader of the House of Lords |
| Term Start3: | 25 March 1807 |
| Term End3: | 9 April 1827 |
| Primeminister3: |
|
| Predecessor3: | The Lord Grenville |
| Successor3: | The Viscount Goderich |
| Term Start4: | 17 August 1803 |
| Term End4: | 5 February 1806 |
| Primeminister4: | |
| Predecessor4: | The Lord Pelham |
| Successor4: | The Lord Grenville |
| Office5: | Home Secretary |
| Term Start5: | 25 March 1807 |
| Term End5: | 1 November 1809 |
| Primeminister5: | The Duke of Portland |
| Predecessor5: | The Earl Spencer |
| Successor5: | Richard Ryder |
| Term Start6: | 12 May 1804 |
| Term End6: | 5 February 1806 |
| Primeminister6: | William Pitt the Younger |
| Predecessor6: | Charles Philip Yorke |
| Successor6: | The Earl Spencer |
| Office7: | Foreign Secretary |
| Term Start7: | 20 February 1801 |
| Term End7: | 14 May 1804 |
| Primeminister7: | Henry Addington |
| Predecessor7: | The Lord Grenville |
| Successor7: | The Lord Harrowby |
| Birth Name: | Robert Banks Jenkinson |
| Birth Date: | 1770 6, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | London, England |
| Death Place: | Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England |
| Resting Place: | Hawkesbury Parish Church, Gloucestershire, England |
| Parents: | Charles Jenkinson (father) |
| Spouse: | |
| Education: | Charterhouse School |
| Alma Mater: | Christ Church, Oxford |
| Party: | Tory |
| Signature: | Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool Signature.svg |
| Signature Alt: | Cursive signature in ink |
Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, (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.
After becoming Prime Minister in 1812, Liverpool intensified efforts against Napoleon Bonaparte by providing subsidies to the allies until the coalition victory at Leipzig 1813. Despite these achievements, the country financially struggled with constant requests for Treasury bill roll overs from the Bank of England and heavy taxation. However, in June 1815, Napoleon was defeated for the final time at the Battle of Waterloo by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, ending the Napoleonic Wars. Liverpool outlined a peace settlement after the war at the Congress of Vienna which imposed no reparations and left France with most of her colonies, and secured no additional gains for Britain.[1]
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. Under his leadership, the Tory Party was able to survive the major calamities of the period without major impact.[2]
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.[3] Despite being called "the Arch-mediocrity" by a later Conservative prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, scholars rank him highly among all British prime ministers.[4] He is the third longest serving prime minister in British history, with an unbroken 14-year tenure surpassed only by those of Robert Walpole and William Pitt the Younger.[5]
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.[6]
The Jenkinsons were members of the landed gentry and were descendants of the explorer and merchant Anthony Jenkinson who led four diplomatic missions to Russia between 1558 and 1571.[7] [8] With this fame and fortune, the Jenkinsons established themselves as country squires in Oxfordshire and gradually rose through the social order when they were given a baronetcy during the Restoration era. The first four baronets, including Liverpool's great-grandfather and two great uncles, all served as members of parliament for Oxfordshire as High Tories from 1661 until 1727 when they lost their parliamentary seat in the Whig landslide during that year’s general election. The family were committed supporters of conservative politics and high-church Anglicanism adhered to the maintenance of tradition. Despite occasional departures from Tory party values, Jenkinsons’ deference to the monarch and support for the Church of England consistently aligned them with the Tories. His mother’s family had a prominent colonial presence in India.[9] 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.[10] [11] [12]
Jenkinson was educated at Charterhouse School of which the education was considered broader than that of Eton College.[13] He was later matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1787. While at Oxford, Liverpool engaged in the traditional “Grand Tour,” which took him to Paris in July 1789 where he witnessed the storming of the Bastille. Liverpool described the event where the mob beheaded the garrison’s governor and triumphantly paraded with his severed head as “one of the most extraordinary revolutions that ever has happened.”[14] 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. In his maiden speech, he supported Prime Minister William Pitt's attempt to persuade Parliament to support a vigorous response to Russian encroachments in the Black Sea during the Ochakov crisis.[15]
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 opponent 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 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, as his presence might have prevented the outrages of the soldiery."[16]
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. He also served as Master of the Mint (1799–1801).
In Henry 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.[17] Most of his time as Foreign Secretary was spent dealing with the nations of France and the United States.
Early negotiations were primarily handled by James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury and later Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis. However, it was Hawkesbury who took responsibility for formulating the requirements and gaining Cabinet approval for them, acknowledging that the military situation did not favour Britain’s war objectives set at the outset of the conflict. In early February, Napoleon made peace with Austria at Lunéville, which solidified French dominance on the continent, and by the time negotiations began, Britain only aimed to ensure France's evacuation of Egypt. News of General Abercrombie's victory at Alexandria further weakened French influence in the region. However, negotiations were complicated by Napoleon's annexation of territories in Italy and his pressure on Britain regarding Malta.
By March, the preliminary Treaty of Amiens was signed in London, marking a temporary cessation of hostilities. Under the peace terms, Britain was to agree to give up its colonial gains made during the war, retaining only the Cape of Good Hope (later exchanged for Trinidad), Ceylon, and Cochin. Despite the less than favorable terms, the treaty was defended by Lord Hawkesbury in the House of Commons amidst growing pressure for a more favourable peace in Britain. The public celebrated the peace, though it was described by some, like Richard Brinsley Sheridan, as a peace "everyone was glad of but no one was proud of.
The cause for celebrations were short-lived as reports of Napoleon's activities surfaced in the British press, leading to diplomatic tensions. French demands to banish émigrés from England and stalled negotiations to normalise trade relations further strained the fragile peace. Napoleon's subsequent annexations in Italy and his actions in Holland and Switzerland heightened British concerns. Attempts to secure stability through diplomatic channels, including offers by Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth to recognise French gains in Italy in exchange for British occupation of Malta, failed to resolve tensions.
In May 1803, Lord Whitworth left Paris, and Britain resumed hostilities, marking the end of the fourteen-month interlude of peace. The resumption of war was met with criticism in Parliament, where the government was faulted for its handling of negotiations and accused of premature disarmament. Despite initial support for Addington's government, dissent quickly grew and a year later Pitt was reappointed as Prime Minister.
He continued to serve in the cabinet as Home Secretary in Pitt 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 Secretary in the Duke of Portland's ministry.
Hawkesbury's immediate duties as Home Secretary was to prepare the country for a potential invasion by Napoleon, which was regarded a possible event. He faced obstacles from the King, who wanted to personally lead the defense forces, and also from the George, Prince of Wales, who publicly complained about not being promoted beyond the rank of Colonel in the 10th Hussars. Fortunately, in the autumn of 1805, following the decisive victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, an invasion was cast as impossible without control of the English Channel and the Royal leadership was never put to the test.
Hawkesbury also aimed to crackdown on the emerging issues of trade unions. Industrialists urged him to prosecute the unions as illegal combinations with him leaving the matter to the attorney general, Spencer Perceval, who confirmed the illegality of the unions' actions as they aimed to raise wages and impose a closed shop. However, Perceval moved against government prosecution, fearing it would worsen relations between employers and workers. During this time, Hawkesbury began addressing the issue of Catholic Emancipation, which had become a dominant issue in British politics in the early 19th Century. Opinions on this matter varied among the political lines, with some supporting the notion while facing considerable opposition, from including Hawkesbury, opposed it due to concerns about loyalty to the Protestant values of the country and the influence of his Evangelical wife, Louisa.
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 (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.[18]
Liverpool's first action at the War Office was to withdraw the failed Walcheren Expedition that was at risk of being destroyed by the French after Austria’s defeat at Battle of Wagram. The fortifications, docks, and arsenal at the Scheldt’s Mouth were destroyed and the remaining troops were evacuated with the last regiment returning home by Christmas.
Liverpool's major focus was on outgoing Peninsular War. In 1809,the Duke of Wellington captured the Portuguese city of Oporto and achieved victory at Talavera, but with France concentrating all efforts on Spain, a temporary retreat became necessary. Liverpool immediately contacted Wellington to assess the situation and Wellington expressed confidence in ultimate progress, despite anticipating a French invasion of Portugal. Liverpool became committed to the war and reinforcing Wellington's forces, ensuring 30,000 men would remain in the field. Throughout the year 1810, both Wellington and Liverpool were criticised by opposition, as the campaign in Portugal was seen as a costly sideshow. Despite growing concerns within the government and continued opposition in Parliament, Liverpool remained steadfast, vocally advocating for sustained but moderate efforts. He wrote to Wellington in September 1810, stating the need to choose between consistent exertion and a grand, short-term campaign that could not be sustained.
Following Wellington's retreat to the Lines of Torres Vedras in the winter of 1810-11, it became increasingly evident that the Portuguese campaign was yielding positive results. Consequently, British troop numbers in Portugal were gradually increased to 50,000 by early 1811. Charles Grey, leader of the Whig opposition, acknowledged the success of army’s campaign.
In contrast to these achievements, Liverpool's responsibilities for the colonies saw minimal conflict, with Canada being the only notable exception. French Canadians, unhappy with the Anglicised constitution established by the 1791 Canada Act, hoped for Bonaparte to overturn the Treaty of Paris. However, Liverpool supported upholding the 1791 Constitution, believing that any changes could provoke discontent and jeopardise not only Canada but also Ireland.
In the House of Lords, Liverpool faced a crisis when George III's mental health deteriorated following the death of his daughter, Princess Amelia, in November 1810. Initial expectations were that his illness was temporary, but by the end of 1810, it became apparent that his condition have gone worse. In December, the ministry decided to establish a Regency with Liverpool proposing three Resolutions on December 27, stating that Parliament should address the suspension of monarchical authority and appoint a Regent with him arguing that the constitution deliberately lacked provisions for a Regency, allowing Parliament to arrange one as needed. Liverpool cited the precedent of Henry VI's minority when Parliament rejected the Duke of Gloucester's claim to act as Regent. This led to the swift passage of the 1811 Regency Bill, which appointed the Prince of Wales as Regent with certain restrictions for a year. The bill received Royal Assent on February 5, 1811.
See main article: Premiership of Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool.
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.[19] 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. Although initially reluctant to take office, he accepted position out of duty as an experienced government minister and administrator.[20] Only a few expected his premiership to last long as his government seemed to appear insecure. Fortunately major opposition from the Whigs was minimal since it was weakened and divided. He was able to rely on the military talents of the Duke of Wellington and the political support of Lord Sidmouth and Castlereagh.[21]
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.[22]
Liverpool's ministers were highly talented, with six of the next ten prime ministers having served under him. His most notable colleagues, such as Castlereagh, Canning, and Peel, are often credited with the government's successes. Liverpool was skilled primarily in calming ministerial tensions. A late nineteenth-century biographical dictionary described him as ‘not an able or eloquent man’, but ‘under his mild supremacy politicians of opposite views were content to live on decent terms’.
For the most of key positions Liverpool appointed men of influence in both Houses of Parliament and of reasonable ability. These included Castlereagh (reappointed as Foreign Secretary), former Prime Minister Lord Sidmouth as Home Secretary, Lord Eldon as Lord Chancellor, and Lord Melville (son of Henry Dundas) as First Lord of the Admiralty. However, Liverpool had trouble with a new promotion to the position of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies which proved to be challenging to fill. The position was initially offered to William Wellesley-Pole (brother of the Marquess Wellesley and Wellington), who declined due to a lack of skill. After further consideration, Liverpool appointed the Earl Bathurst, though competent was a member of the ultra conservative faction of the party. The greatest difficulty came with the an attempt to bring Canning to office, who refused out of animosity toward Castlereagh, with latter agreeing to leave the Commons in favour of Canning.
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. The new government quickly became popular due to Napoleon’s deteriorating invasion of Russia, victories in Spain under Wellington's success at the Battle of Salamanca in 1812.
Liverpool was personally convinced of the significance of the campaign. When Wellington complained about the campaign's management and lack of funds, he assured him that there was strong agreement with particular focus on Portugal with the government prioritising the Iberian Peninsula over other theatres like Sicily and the Italian peninsula, except when necessary. Only after 1813, as Napoleonic power waned, did the Cabinet turn its attention to Italy, capturing Genoa in April 1814. Liverpool's administration aimed to unite the continent’s combined military force against France with heavy financial and military support were provided to the allies which costed £13 million from March to November 1813.[23]
By 1814, Napoleon was defeated by the Coalition armies at the Battle of Leipzig followed by his subsequent exile. That year negotiations at the Congress of Vienna began. Liverpool defended the actions of the allies and Castlereagh's negotiations to the Prince Regent, the Cabinet, and Parliament enabling the government to negotiate with far more confidence. The government aimed to restore the deposed Bourbon monarchy and to dictate a moderate peace with limited reparations from France during peace talks. Following this success, celebrations were held alongside the visits of the allied sovereigns to the country. Displays of military strength at Portsmouth and industrial power were presented during the visit of the allied monarchs. The year marked a high level of public acclaim for Liverpool and his government.
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. Earlier, Liverpool objected to handing over British colonial conquests acquired during the war due to fears of public criticism. In response, Castlereagh famously said ‘it is not our business to collect trophies, but to try [to] bring back the world to peaceful habits.’[24] 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.
At Vienna, Britain was able to achieved many of its aims due its different conception of post-war interests that varied from nations like Prussia, Russia, and Austria sought harsh reparations in terms of large territorial gains while Britain's aims were primarily focused on establishing a balance of power in Europe to ensure peace and prevention of another conflict. However, Britain feared the rise of a powerful France and the influence of Russia in future, which lead to Castlereagh advocating for a robust Prussia with expanded territories from Germany and an independent Poland with liberal democratic values. Britain also aimed to establish new buffer states around France along the United Province of Netherlands, a neutral Switzerland, and Austrian-influenced Italy. Aside from strategic goals, Liverpool advocated successfully for the wider abolition of the slave trade, which the Congress condemned, and secured international maritime rights for British. Castlereagh managed to have France reduced to its pre-Napoleonic size without punitive damage which was a major consensus at the Congress, although Britain remained relatively disengaged from continental affairs. Despite this success, British diplomacy faced criticism at home; the extensive financial and military efforts against Napoleon seemed to yield little, as the restoration of the Bourbons was not what British public opinion desired, and opportunities to spread liberal values in France and Poland were missed. Britain gained no European territory, securing only some overseas colonies, notably South Africa.[25]
In September 1814, Liverpool wrote to Castlereagh and Wellington, to reflect on Britain's support for the Swedish acquisition of Norway, a matter which he described as "the most awkward and embarrassing of any in our European politics". His concerns centred around the country's newfound treaty obligations and support for the allies that were being fulfilled by maintaining a blockade until Prince Christian abdicated the throne and Norwegian fortresses were secured by Swedish troops. He writes that the Swedish government had engaged with the Norwegian Diet regarding the union and internal governance, interpreting the Treaty of Stockholm to present that Britain had not guaranteed Norway to Sweden but had avoided such a commitment. This interpretation aligned with his arguments in the House of Lords and revealed Britain's reluctance to publicly acknowledge this stance, fearing it might encourage anti-union sentiments in Norway. Despite believing the policy of uniting Norway with Sweden to be in the best of interest, Liverpool confessed his discomfort with the situation, acknowledging the international consequences posed by applying norms of the law of nations not to another government but to a people. This conferred on the tension between Britain's objective of rewarding Sweden's alliance against Napoleonic France with Norway, supported by Russia and the conflicting international norms at the Congress of Vienna that later influenced Liverpool's positions on foreign policy.[26]
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.
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. The laws sought to keep prices at 80 shillings per quarter and protect the expanded grain farms, but failed to address the issue of high prices. This they caused food prices to fluctuate violently at high levels and encouraged the hoarding of corn.[27] His chief economic problem during his time as Prime Minister was that of the nation's finances. Later historian Robert Blake called the Corn Laws “one of the most naked pieces of class legislation in British history.”[28]
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. Assertions that gold payments could be resumed at the old rate "without material distress" became overstated as the required deflation led to a further 28% drop in prices between 1818 and 1821 and triggered a sharp recession. However, in 1819, the recession was nearly as severe as that of 1816-17 and quite unexpected, it was also very brief. Between November and December, the recession rapidly slowed and ended before the next Parliamentary session.[29]
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.[30] 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.[31]
Liverpool and the government faced serious crisis again in the ensuing marital dispute between King George IV and his wife Queen Caroline of Brunswick. The couple have been living apart since their separation in 1814 with the Queen leaving the country indefinitely to mainland Europe and the King therefore wanted the government pass legislation to divorce her. During the upcoming coronation for the King in June, 1820, Caroline returned to the country to take her place as queen consort. Earlier, the King cannot divorce Caroline unless on grounds of adultery and Liverpool was tasked with sending a investigation to Milan with investigators setting up the “Milan Commission” in 1818 with the aim of finding possible witnesses to testify against the Queen’s misconduct and her alleged affair with one of her servants, Bartolommeo Pergamum. Testimonies against Caroline selected from all possible witnesses, including her servants. However, the Government worried about a mass scandal and sought to mediate between George and Caroline into a long-term separation agreement which was superseded by the passing of King George III 29 January 1820. The King attempted to remove from the event by excluding her from the Church liturgy and instructed foreign embassies to deny recognition to her status as queen consort. When she returned to the country, the King sought a quick divorce and with the evidence provided by the Milan Commission being sent to the Houses of Parliament in sealed green bags with a House of Lords committee being appointed to examine the evidence. In the ensuing inquiry, the King and the Liverpool government introduced the “Pains and Penalties Bill” that was “to deprive Caroline of the rights and title Queen Consort and to dissolve her marriage to George” that led to a trial on 17 August to establish the accuracy of the preamble in determining “a most unbecoming and degrading Intimacy commenced between Bartolomeo Pergami and Her said Royal Highness”. The bill was passed in the House of Lords following its second hearing with a vote of 119-94. However, the majority support for the bill shrank and knowing that its passage in the House of Commons would be futile, Liverpool declared “I could not be ignorant of the state of public feeling with regard to this measure” and due to growing popular support for Caroline and widespread dislike of both the King and the government, the Bill was abandoned. [32]
Liverpool and his government faced significant public disturbances with the Spa Fields Riots in 1816, the Pentrich rising in Derbyshire and March of the Blanketeers in 1817 and the infamous Peterloo Massacre in 1819. A primary cause of the events being unrest unemployment, exacerbated by the end of wartime industry contracts and the demobilisation of soldiers with the end of the war that rendered many workers, particularly hand-loom weavers, redundant. Additionally, living and working conditions in new industrial towns were deplorable.[33]
In the countryside, conditions were even worse. Enclosure and population pressure drove many rural workers to move to towns, while those who stayed faced poor wages and harsh living conditions. In southern England, wages were so low that workers relied on the Poor Law under the Speenhamland System to supplement their income. This economic hardship contributed significantly to the widespread discontent during this period. Alongside these conditions, Luddite uprisings combined with widespread frame breaking epidemics, viewed as a form of tech-conservatism and as a early form of unionism and an important example of collective bargaining, were common place despite being illegal under the Combination Act 1799. The government, in response, sided with industrial magnates and introduced two pieces of legislation to counter the unrest: the Framework Bill, which imposed the death penalty for breaking frames, and the Bill for the Preservation of Peace in the County of Nottingham, which gave local authorities the power to appoint special constables.[34]
Government policies further fueled discontent with passing of the Corn Laws in 1815, keeping bread prices high, making it difficult for the poor to afford basic sustenance. The abolition of income tax in 1816 led to a rise in indirect taxes, which disproportionately affected the poorer population. These policies added to the financial strain on the already struggling working class.
In response to growing discontent, Liverpool and his ministers, fearing a revolutionary outbreak similar to the French Revolution of 1789, implemented repressive measures to maintain order. Habeas corpus was suspended, and the Seditious Meetings Act was passed in 1817 to curb public gatherings. Spies were sent to monitor industrial areas with high levels of discontent, and troops were deployed to disperse crowds, notably at the Peterloo Massacre. This later led to criticism and he was despised as the most repressive leader the country ever had to that point.[35] The government also enacted the Six Acts in 1819, which increased magistrates' powers to search, arrest, and try political cases without a jury. Additionally, the stamp duty on journals was increased to make publications like Cobbett’s Political Register too expensive for working men. Despite these measures, the powers granted by the Six Acts were not widely used, but the overall approach underscored the government's commitment to suppressing dissent through repression.By 1824, the Vagrancy Act was also passed by Liverpool’s government with individuals being broadly categorised as “idle and disorderly Persons, and rogues and vagabonds,” with fortune tellers, common prostitutes, and destitute former soldiers and sailors struggling to survive, were subject to imprisonment and hard labor for unlawful conduct.[36]
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). In 1818, a general election was called, the first since the end of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars and were contested during a time of great turmoil. The election changed little but the end results gave Liverpool and his government a sizeable majority in Parliament which firmly cemented his power despite soaring unpopularity.[37] [38] 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.[39]
As a part of the Liverpool government’s new liberal agenda, it passed the Relief and Toleration Act that granted major religious freedom for Unitarians and Dissenters in 1819, the Poor Employment Act that allocated funds to local factories for improving public works and a Truck Act, which attempted limit the unfair practice of employers paying factory workers in goods rather than wages.[40] It regulated child labor with the passing of the Cotton Mills Act in 1819, which prohibited the employment of children under 9 in cotton factories and limited their workday to 12 hours until the age of 16.[41]
After 1822, Lord Liverpool's government began a significant shift toward liberal policies as a result of the influence exerted by the “enlightened” faction of the Tory Party. The shift is evident in the repealing of harsher punishments in the Penal Code, which initially listed 200 crimes punishable by death. Robert Peel, the Home Secretary, was instrumental in introducing moderate reform with legislation that addressed 75% of all criminal offences, significantly reduced the number of crimes punishable by capital punishment, and abolished the Six Acts. Additionally, Peel introduced the Gaols Act 1823, which mandated regular visits by prison chaplains and ensured that gaolers received payment, moving them away from dependency on inmates for their income.[42]
By 1824, the government also effectively nullified the Combination Acts. Francis Place and Joseph Hume successfully established a Select Committee of Inquiry chaired by William Huskisson, which found the Combination Acts fostered mutual distrust and violent behaviour. Place observed that the bills passed with little opposition, as Hume wisely chose not to debate them publicly.[43] Following the repeal, public unrest intensified with a surge in trade union activity which caused strikes and violence leading to Place criticising the government's decision to reevaluate trade union laws, especially condemning Huskisson for his alarmist stance and absence from debates. In 1825, the government responded by reinforcing the Conspiracy Laws and amending the repeal legislation to restrict the purposes of labor movements.
Liverpool’s tenure after 1815 coincided with the country facing a severe financial strain due to long-term wartime spending, leading to high and unpopular taxation and the circulation of ‘cheap’ paper money since 1797. Income tax, which accounted for about a fifth of government revenue, and indirect taxes, which raised food prices and affected the working class unfairly, were critical components of the financial system. The government’s expenditure in 1814-1815 exceeded its tax income by 45%, and the national debt had surged to £902 million by 1816, with 80% of expenditure needed to pay loan interest.[44]
To address the financial instability, Liverpool began reducing public spending and paying off debts, known as retrenchment. Transitioning to lower peacetime taxation required an indefinite time, and income tax was central to achieving financial stability. Despite its unpopularity, income tax was abolished in 1816 after a successful campaign by the Whigs, which led Liverpool to cut government spending, borrow funds, and increase indirect taxes to compensate for the lost income.[45]
Abolishing income tax, forced Liverpool to implement austerity measures, including reducing military spending and cutting official salaries. Despite these cuts, by 1818, most government revenue was consumed by debt interest and pensions for veterans. Liverpool then established a Select Committee on Currency, which recommended a return to the Gold Standard by 1823. This transition, completed ahead of schedule in 1821, helped stabilise the economy, though it faced mixed reactions from various economic sectors.
However by 1818, Liverpool achieved a balanced budget, but the need to borrow money to service existing debts persisted, leading to rising interest rates and a growing National Debt. Criticism from the radical press, landowners, and industrialists highlighted the need for financial reform. A second committee’s review of government finance led to his Chancellor, Nicholas Vansittart, introducing the 1819 budget, which introduced new taxes and used government reserves to balance the budget which established fiscal principles aimed at maintaining a surplus of tax income over government spending and restoring public confidence in the government’s finances.
Liverpool was an advocate of free trade and laissez-faire capitalism, in which pretence he supported measures to move the country towards close economic relations with Europe and the United States.[46] Before 1823, British trade was governed by restrictive protectionist laws with imported goods being subject to varying duties. That year, under the oversight of the President of the Board of Trade, Huskisson introduced a significant change by implementing a uniform 30% tariff and eased the Navigation Acts, allowing British colonies to engage in direct trade with other nations using their own ships, while still paying taxes to Britain. In 1824, the government further lowered tariffs on rum, wool, and raw silk, followed by reductions on coffee, cotton, copper ore, iron ore, glass, and paper in 1825.[47]
In 1825, a banking crisis emerged after speculations in Latin America and particularly in the fictional country of Poyais which caused a stock market crash and triggered bank runs. By spring, the Bank of England exacerbated the crisis by contracting the monetary base and raising the discount rate amid banking turmoil. This act of last resort, coupled with widespread commercial failures and plummeting bond values, led to the collapse of several banks.[48] To resolve the situation, Liverpool held confidential discussions with Cornelius Buller, Governor of the Bank of England, and his deputy, John Baker Richards by noting the need to prevent the collapse of the banking system amid widespread speculation and the bursting of stock market bubbles. He knew he could not obtain parliamentary approval for financial intervention, as many Members of Parliament were predominantly tax-paying landowners, were skeptical of London’s financiers. Liverpool had cautioned bankers against excessive trading, warning that he would not y the use of Treasury funds to prevent bankruptcy in the event of a financial crisis. However, he knew that the Bank of England, with its semi-private status and significant autonomy, might intervene given its role as the principal financial institution of the country. Liverpool also hinted that bank could exceed its legal limits on note issuance and utilise its gold reserves.[49] The crisis was ended, when the Bank of England gave out £5 million on 14 December and another substantial £51 million in final two weeks. The bank reserves were also filled with gold bullion exchanged by swapping silver for gold with the Bank of France.[50]
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.[51]
After suffering a stroke on 27 February 1827, Liverpool was left incapacitated and incapable of effectively running the government. Possible successors for office included Peel and Wellington with the former being considered to be ‘a sort of man that it would be no disgrace for the Duke [of Wellington] to act with in that capacity.’[52] In the end, Canning was chosen as his successor on April 14.[53] The King's appointment of Canning as Prime Minister led to the mass resignations of prominent conservative politicians and five members of the current government, which forced him to a form a government of moderate Tories and Whigs that lasted 119 days until his death.[54]
Jenkinson's first wife, Louisa, died at 54. He married again on 24 September 1822 to Mary Jenkinson, Countess of Liverpool.[55] Mary Chester was a close friend of the late countess. He was the first and only British Prime Minister to marry while in office until Boris Johnson in 2020.[56] Jenkinson finally retired on 9 April 1827 after suffering a severe cerebral hemorrhage at his Fife House residence in Whitehall two months earlier,[57] and asked the King to seek a successor.
Liverpool opted to reside near London, choosing Combe House, a country residence in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. The house was an original Tudor structure until it was modified by a Georgian mansion later built by Sir John Soane, who also added a library. This house stood until 1933, when it was demolished and replaced by residential housing. He like many of his predecessors before him, did not preferred the architecture of the Gothic revival movement which served as the main alternative to the prevailing Classical architectural style, which was as a result of the legacy of the Protestant Reformation that rejected anything explicitly 'Catholic'.[58]
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.[59] He had been in stable health since then and without any symptoms of a serious condition until on Friday in December at nine o' clock, he showed signs of spasms and convulsions with a dispatch to one of his medical attendants, Mr. Sandford. Before he could arrive, Liverpool was dead at ten o' clock with his half-brother Cecil Jenkinson and his wife Mary at his apartment.[60] 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:
John W. Derry says Jenkinson was:
According to Norman Gash, Liverpool possessed two distinct traits: his staunch conservatism and his role as a capable administrator, both that contribute to his relatively minor position in historical accounts. As a conservative, Liverpool adhered rigidly to his principles for three decades, resisting pressures for reform and reaction alike. He maintained a firm stance on issues such as Catholic emancipation, parliamentary reform, economic and foreign policies, support for trade outdone by pragmatism. This likely led to his historical neglect and unfavourable reputation, particularly as his death marked the end of Tory dominance and ushered a period of rapid change and liberal leadership that overshadowed his legacy. The prevailing historical narrative, often written by reformist and liberal-minded individuals led to Liverpool's disdainful assessment.[61]
Although he resisted major reform and his pragmatic innovations may seem insignificant, his advocacy for free-market principles and reluctance to embrace protectionism may have indirectly influenced the 19th-century economic boom. Additionally, his aversion to adopting true party politics in Parliament might have had its merits. Despite his firm control over power, Liverpool's tenure as Prime Minister is viewed as one of mediocrity due to his lack of assertiveness in shaping events in contrast to figures like Wellington who were more reactionary. Ironically, the later Conservative (i.e Tory) Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli criticised Liverpool harshly, labelling him as "the arch mediocrity" which stemmed from Liverpool's failure to impose significant changes, despite achievements in foreign and economic policy.
Liverpool and his government is widely regarded as one of the most reactionary and repressive in British history, led by conservative Tory principles that were derived from pre-French Revolution societal structures of which the government was deeply concerned. This resulted in policies that were designed to maintain the status quo which ignored the widespread problems of unemployment, economic stagnation and social unrest. Although acknowledging the dire situation of the country, the government became fixated on only signs of revolutionary insurrection one that did not solve the main issues of domestic unrest and struggled with the transition to a peacetime reconstruction in spite of rapid changes in the Industrial Revolution. As such, the rigid and short-term policies of his government failed to address the needs of post-war Britain, cementing its reputation one of the most reactionary in the history.[62]
Jenkinson was the first British prime minister to regularly wear long trousers instead of breeches. He was also the first prime minister to cut his hair short instead of wearing a wig or wearing long hair in a queue.[63] 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. He is third only to William Pitt the Younger and Robert Walpole who each served longer tenures.[64]
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, and the Liverpool River in the Northern Territory of Australia were also named after Lord Liverpool.[65]
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.[66] Liverpool was also portrayed by André van Gyseghem in 1979 mini-series the Prince Regent and by Robert Wilfort in the 2018 film Peterloo .[67] [68]
| Crest: | A Seahorse assurgent Argent maned Azure supporting a Cross Pattée Gules |
| Escutcheon: | Azure a Fess wavy Argent charged with a Cross Pattée Gules in chief two Estoiles Or and as an augmentation of honour granted to his father the 1st Earl of Liverpool, upon a Chief wavy of the Second a Cormorant Sable beaked and legged of the Third holding in the beak a Seaweed (or Liver) branch inverted Vert (for Liverpool) |
| Supporters: | On either side a Hawk wings elevated and inverted Proper beaked legged and belled Or charged on the breast with a Cross Pattée Gules |
| Motto: | Palma non sine pulvere ("Dare to try") |