Editing Leoline Jenkins

{{Short description|Welsh Politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Moresources|date=January 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}
[[File:Sir Leoline Jenkins by Herbert Tuer.jpg|thumb|1679 portrait of Sir Leoline Jenkins by Herbert Tuer]]
'''Sir Leoline Jenkins''' (1625 – 1 September 1685) was a [[Wales|Welsh]] academic, diplomat involved in the negotiation of international treaties (e.g. [[Treaties of Nijmegen|Nimègue]]), jurist and politician. He was a [[clerical lawyer]] who served as [[Judge of the High Court of Admiralty]] from 1668 to 1685, and enjoyed a high reputation for judicial integrity.<ref>[[Diary of Samuel Pepys]] 26 March 1667</ref> As a statesman he served as Secretary of State from 1680 to 1684.<ref>Kenyon, J. P. ''Stuart England'' (Pelican Books 1990) p.238</ref>

==Biography==
{{Unsourced|section|date=January 2023}}
He was originally from [[Llantrisant]] in south [[Wales]], son of Leoline (an  [[Anglicisation of names|anglicisation]] of ''[[Llywelyn (name)|Llewellyn]]'') Jenkins, a small landowner. He himself spoke fluent [[Welsh language|Welsh]], and was fond of quoting Welsh proverbs, sometimes to the bewilderment of his listeners. He went to school in the nearby town of [[Cowbridge]] and then to [[Jesus College, Oxford]].

==Civil War and Interregnum ==
{{Unsourced|section|date=January 2023}}
He fought on the [[Royalist]] side during the [[English Civil War]]. On the failure of the Royalist cause, he retired to [[Glamorgan]] in 1648, and entered the household of the Welsh Royalist Sir John Aubrey, first of the [[Aubrey baronets]], at [[Llantrithyd]], as did his two most valuable patrons, [[Gilbert Sheldon]], the future [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], and Sir [[Francis Mansell]], Jenkins' predecessor as Principal of Jesus College. 

He set up a small private school for the education of Aubrey's son and other local boys, but it was broken up by Parliament in 1651 as a seminary for potential [[traitors]]. He moved with some of his pupils to [[Oxford]], where he set up another school known popularly as "the Little Welsh Hall", but in 1655 he was forced to flee to the Continent. At the [[Restoration of Charles II]] he was made a fellow of Jesus College and became Principal on Mansell's retirement the following year.

==Restoration ==
{{Moresources|section|date=January 2023}}
As Principal of Jesus College from 1661 to 1673, he was responsible for much construction work, including the college library. The position was one of several rewards he received from King [[Charles II of England]] for his loyalty to the [[Cavalier|Royalist]] cause during the [[English Civil War]].

===Judge ===
Due to his close friendship with Archbishop Sheldon, he was also created a judge, first of the [[consistory court]] of [[Westminster]], then of the [[Arches Court]] and finally of the Court of Admiralty.<ref>''Pepys Diary'' 27 March 1667</ref> As Judge of the Court of Admiralty he won [[Samuel Pepys]]' warm praise for his ability and integrity, although Pepys was told that his appointment had not been welcomed by the [[advocates]] at [[Doctors Commons]].<ref>''Pepys' Diary'', 27 March 1667</ref> He played a crucial role in the development of English [[Admiralty law]] as a coherent body of legal principles.

He was also an expert on [[international law]]. On the death of the [[queen mother]] [[Henrietta Maria]] at [[Colombes]] in August 1669, Jenkins was sent to [[Paris]] to argue that the disposition of her [[personal property]] was governed by English, not French law: the result would be that the property would pass in its entirety to Charles II, rather than to his sister [[Henrietta of England|Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans]], who would have been the [[beneficiary]] under French law. His arguments were successful and on his return to England, Charles rewarded him with a [[Knight Bachelor|knighthood]].

===Diplomat ===
He was one of the Commissioners appointed to negotiate the abortive Union with [[Scotland]] in 1669. In the 1670s he spent much of his time on the Continent engaged in a number of diplomatic missions. Notably, he was England's principal representative at the Congress of [[Nijmegen]] (1676-1679) which brought to an end the [[Franco-Dutch War]], and for a time the sole representative. Critics said that he was "in agony" at being left with the sole responsibility for making decisions. Certainly, as the English government ruefully admitted, Nijmegen was "far from being such a peace as his Majesty would have wished for",<ref>Kenyon, J.P. ''The Popish Plot'' (Phoenix Press 2000), p. 90</ref> although the unsatisfactory outcome from the English point of view was largely due to the resentment of English interference by both French and Dutch representatives at the Congress, rather than to any blunder by Jenkins.<ref>Kenyon 2000 p.48</ref>

==Secretary of State ==

Jenkins was made a privy counsellor in February 1680. During the [[Exclusion Crisis]] he vehemently opposed Exclusion, and acted as the effective Government leader in the Commons. After the failure of Exclusion he played a major role in the so-called "[[Tories (British political party)|Tory]] Revenge", the 1681-4 campaign to crush the [[Whig (British political party)|Whig]] opposition.<ref>Kenyon 1990 p.238</ref>

He served as [[Secretary of State for the Northern Department]] from 26 April 1680 to 2 February 1681 and [[Secretary of State for the Southern Department]] from 2 February 1681 to 14 April 1684. His major legislative achievements include authoring the [[Statute of Frauds]] ([[29 Cha. 2]]. c. 3) and the [[Statute of Distributions]] ([[22 & 23 Cha. 2]]. c. 10), dealing with the inheritance of personal property. Whilst Secretary of State, he was served by the Welsh lawyer (and former student of Jesus College) [[Owen Wynne (civil servant)|Owen Wynne]], who has been called "an early example of the permanent civil servant."<ref>{{cite DWB|id=s-WYNN-OWE-1652|title=Wynne, Owen (1652–?), civil servant|access-date=10 February 2009|first=Arthur Herbert|last=Dodd|author-link=A. H. Dodd}}</ref>

As a Minister, if not noted for brilliance, he was hard-working and incorruptible. Though [[Gilbert Burnet]] found him "heavy and dull" he could show great spirit and determination when necessary. At a meeting of the [[Privy Council of England|Privy Council]] in October 1681, some of the Councillors, Jenkins wrote to a colleague, "were pleased to fall upon me" for not sharing with them important items of foreign policy.<ref>Kenyon, J.P. ''The Stuart Constitution'' 2nd Edition 1987 [[Cambridge University Press]] p. 441</ref> Jenkins staunchly defended the practice of keeping such information strictly confidential. He argued that the Secretaries of State "were not at liberty to carry any part of their intelligences to the Council, unless his Majesty directed it specifically": this was a rule which he had always followed and by which he was "indispensably bound".<ref>Kenyon 1987 p. 441</ref>

In failing health, he retired in 1684 to his house at [[Hammersmith]] and died there the following year. He never married.

He is regarded as the second founder of the eminent [[Cowbridge Grammar School]], renowned for its academic standards which he had himself attended. He is buried in the [[Chapel of Jesus College, Oxford|chapel of Jesus College]], at which he had previously been a student before becoming Principal, and to which he bequeathed most of his estate.<ref>{{Cite DWB|id=s-JENK-LEO-1625|title=Jenkins, Sir Leoline|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

==Leoline Fellows==
[[File:Leoline Jenkins tomb.jpg|thumb|right|His tombstone in the [[chapel of Jesus College, Oxford]]]]
In his will, Jenkins stated: "It is but too obvious that the persons in [[Holy Orders]] employed in his [[Royal Navy|Majesty's fleet]] at sea and foreign [[Plantation (settlement or colony)|plantation]]s are too few". To address this, he established two Fellowships at Jesus College, whose holders should serve as clergy "in any of his Majesty's fleets or in his Majesty's plantations" under the direction of the [[British Admiralty|Lord High Admiral]] and the [[Bishop of London]] respectively. The last such fellow, [[Frederick de Winton]], was appointed in 1876 and held his fellowship until his death in 1932. This category of fellowship was abolished in 1877 by the Oxford and Cambridge Universities Commission, without prejudice to the rights of existing holders such as de Winton.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Rev. F. H. de Winton|last=Hazel|first=Alfred|author-link=Alfred Hazel|date=3 May 1932|work=[[The Times]]|page=19}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Leoline Jenkins}}
* {{Cite DNB |last=Rigg |first=James McMullen |wstitle=Jenkins, Leoline|volume=29|short=x}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Jenkins, Sir Leoline |short=x}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title=[[Secretary of State for the Northern Department]] | before=[[Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland|The Earl of Sunderland]] | after=[[Edward Conway, 1st Earl of Conway|The Earl of Conway]] | years=1680–1681}}
{{succession box | title=[[Secretary of State for the Southern Department]] | before=[[Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland|The Earl of Sunderland]] | after=[[Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland|The Earl of Sunderland]] | years=1681–1684}}
{{s-par|en}}
{{succession box | title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Hythe (UK Parliament constituency)|Hythe]]
 | with = [[John Hervey (1616-1680)|John Hervey]] | before=[[John Hervey (1616-1680)|John Hervey]]<br />[[Sir Henry Wood, 1st Baronet|Sir Henry Wood, Bt]] | after=[[Sir Edward Dering, 2nd Baronet|Sir Edward Dering, Bt]]<br />[[Julius Deedes]] | years=1673–1679}}
{{succession box | title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Oxford University (UK Parliament constituency)|Oxford University]]
 | with = [[Charles Perrot (politician)|Charles Perrot]] | before=[[Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford|Heneage Finch]]<br />[[John Eddisbury]] | after=[[Charles Perrot (politician)|Charles Perrot]]<br />[[George Clarke]] | years=1679–1681}}
{{s-end}}
{{Jesus College, Oxford}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Leoline}}
[[Category:1625 births]]
[[Category:1685 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century diplomats]]
[[Category:17th-century Welsh judges]]
[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford]]
[[Category:English MPs 1661–1679]]
[[Category:English MPs 1679]]
[[Category:Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Founders of Welsh schools and colleges]]
[[Category:Members of the pre-1707 Parliament of England for the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of England]]
[[Category:People from Llantrisant]]
[[Category:People educated at Cowbridge Grammar School]]
[[Category:People from Cowbridge]]
[[Category:Principals of Jesus College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Secretaries of state for the Northern Department]]
[[Category:Secretaries of state for the Southern Department]]
[[Category:Welsh diplomats]]
[[Category:17th-century philanthropists]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]