Catalogue description Jackson Papers

Francis James Jackson was born in December 1770, the eldest son of Thomas Jackson DD. He entered the diplomatic service at an early age and served as a Foreign Office clerk till 1789 when he was appointed Secretary to the Berlin legation. He later held a similar post in Madrid till he was appointed ambassador to Constantinople on 23rd July 1796. On 2nd December 1801 he went as minister plenipotentiary to France, and in October 1802 moved on to the same post in Berlin. He remained in this position till diplomatic relations were broken off in 1806, on the occupation of Hanover.

In 1807 he was sent on a special mission to Denmark just prior to its bombardment, to which he was a witness. Then in 1809 he went to Washington as minister plenipotentiary, and remained there until the rupture between Britain and the USA which culminated in the war of 1812-1815. He died on 5th August 1814 after a long illness.

Sir George Jackson was born in October 1785, the youngest son of Thomas Jackson DD. Originally destined for the church, the death of his father meant that in 1801 he joined his brother in Paris as an unpaid attache at the diplomatic mission. In October 1802 he accompanied his brother to Berlin, and in 1805 became chargé d'affaires there. While there he went on a special mission to Hesse Cassel. But in 1806 diplomatic relations between Hesse Cassel and Britain were broken off, over the occupation of Hanover.

During the ensuing negotiations, Jackson was sent into Northern Germany to investigate the situation, and then back to England with the treaty for ratification. Afterwards he was made chargé d'affairs, but when, after the Treaty of Tilsit diplomatic relations were again suspended, he returned to England by way of Copenhagen in September 1807.

From 1808-1809 Jackson was one of the secretaries to the legation under John Hookham Freres mission to the Spanish junta and he was subsequently appointed to Washington in the same capacity, but diplomatic relations were broken off before he could take up the post. He then briefly served in the West Kent Militia until 1813 he accompanied Sir Charles Stewart to Germany and was present with the allied armies in Germany and France during the 1813-14 campaigns, and entered Paris with them.

When the King of Prussia returned to Berlin, Jackson was appointed as charge d'affairs and minister at the Prussian court where he remained till after the battle of Waterloo. Then in 1816 he was made secretary of the St Petersburg embassy.

In 1822, Canning sent him on a mission to Madrid, and the following year he was appointed commissioner in Washington under Article I of the Treaty of Ghent for the settlement of american claims. He filled this post until 1827. The latter part of his career was closely connected until the abolition of the slave trade. In 1828 he became first commissary judge of the mixed commission court at Sierra Leone. Then from 1832-1841 he was chief commissioner under the convention for the abolition of the African slave trade at Rio de Janeiro. He held the same position at Surinam from 1841-1845 and at St Paul de Loando from 1845-1859.

After this he retired on a pension. He married twice; first in 1812 Cordelia Smith who died in 1853; and then in 1856 at St Helena, Catherine Elliott. He died at Boulogne on 2nd May 1861.