Joseph Jekyll
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Sir Joseph Jekyll, KS (1663 – 19 August 1738), English lawyer and Master of the Rolls, son of John Jekyll, was born in London, and after studying at the Middle Temple was called to the bar in 1687.
He rapidly rose to be chief justice of Chester (1697), serjeant-at-law and king's serjeant (1700), and a knight. In 1717 he was made master of the rolls. A Whig in politics, he sat in Parliament for various constituencies from 1697 to the end of his life, and took an active part there in debating constitutional questions with much learning, though, according to Lord Hervey (Mem. i, 474), with little "approbation." He was censured by the House of Commons for accepting a brief for the defence of Lord Halifax in a prosecution ordered by the house. He was one of the managers of the impeachment of the Jacobite earl of Wintoun in 1715, and of Harley (Lord Oxford) in 1717.
In later years he supported Walpole. He became very unpopular in 1736 for his introduction of the "gin act", taxing the retailing of spirituous liquors, and his house had to be protected from the mob. Pope has an illusion to "Jekyll or some odd Whig, who never changed his principle or wig" (Epilogue to the Satires). Jekyll was also responsible for the Mortmain Act of 1736, which was not superseded till 1888.
His great-nephew Joseph Jekyll (d. 1837) was a lawyer, politician and wit, who excited a good deal of contemporary satire, and who wrote some jeux d'esprit which were well-known in his time. His Letters of the late Ignatius Sancho, an African, was published in 1782. In 1894 his correspondence was edited, with a memoir, by the Hon. Algernon Bourke.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
| Parliament of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Davenant Charles Cornwallis |
Member of Parliament for Eye with Charles Cornwallis 1697–1698 Spencer Compton, from 1698 1697–1707 |
Succeeded by (Parliament of Great Britain) |
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by (Parliament of England) |
Member of Parliament for Eye with Spencer Compton to 1710 Thomas Maynard 1710–1713 1707–1713 |
Succeeded by Thomas Maynard Edward Hopkins |
| Preceded by Paul Burrard Lord William Powlett |
Member of Parliament for Lymington with Lord William Powlett 1713–1715 Richard Chaundler 1715–1722 1713–1722 |
Succeeded by Lord Harry Powlett Paul Burrard |
| Preceded by James Cocks Thomas Jordan |
Member of Parliament for Reigate with James Cocks 1722–1738 |
Succeeded by James Cocks John Hervey |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by John Coombe |
Chief Justice of Chester 1697–1717 |
Succeeded by Spencer Cowper |
| Preceded by Sir John Trevor |
Master of the Rolls 1717–1738 |
Succeeded by John Verney |
