Joseph Jekyll (1754–1837)

Joseph JekyllFRS(1 January 1754 – 8 March 1837) was a British Whig member of parliament forCalne,Wiltshire.

He was the eldest son of Capt. Edward Jekyll, R.N., of Haverfordwest and was educated atWestminster School(1766–1770) andChrist Church, Oxford,where he was awarded BA in 1774 and MA in 1777. He trained for the law atLincoln's Innfrom 1769 and wascalled to the barin 1778.

In 1782, Jekyll wrote a memoir of the black composerIgnatius Sanchoto preface the collection of Sancho's letters. Initially published anonymously, the memoir was attributed to Jekyll in the 1803 edition of theLetters.

He was elected in 1790 aFellow of the Royal Societyas "'a Gentleman conversant in various Branches of Literature".

In 1801, he married Maria, the daughter of the MPHans Sloane,with whom he had two sons. The youngest was the father of the garden designer,Gertrude Jekyll.

He was made abencherat theInner Templein 1805, a reader in 1814 and treasurer in 1816. He was appointed solicitor-general to the Prince of Wales and was madeKing's Counselin 1805.

In 1787, he was elected member of parliament forCalne,a seat he held until 1816, after which he resigned by accepting the notional crown appointment asSteward of the Chiltern Hundreds.

In 1824, Jekyll inherited theWargraveHill (now Wargrave Manor) estate inBerkshire,although he preferred to live in Mayfair and so rented it out to tenants. He died in London in 1837.

External links

• "JEKYLL, Joseph (1754–1837)".History of Parliament Online.Retrieved21 February2014.