Birth Name: Robert Banks Jenkinson
Date of Birth: June 7, 1770
Place of Birth: London, England
Date of Death: December 4, 1828
Place of Death: Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England
Ethnicity: English, along with Scottish and Welsh, possibly a small amount of Portuguese and/or Indian
Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, was a British politician. A member of the Tory Party, he served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 8 June 1812 to 9 April 1827.
Prime Minister Jenkinson was the son of Amelia (Watts) and Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool, a statesman. Charles was born in Winchester, England, and was of English, and approximately one eighth Welsh, descent. Amelia was born in Cossimbazaar, India, and had Scottish, English, and possibly some Portuguese and/or Indian, ancestry.
Prime Minister Jenkinson’s paternal grandparents were Charles Jenkinson (the son of Robert Jenkinson and Sarah Tomlins) and Amarantha Cornewall (the daughter of Wolfran Cornewall and Elizabeth Devereux). Elizabeth’s mother was Welsh, born in Llangian, Wales, and her father was born in Cefn Gwernfa, Wales, likely of mostly English descent.
Prime Minister Jenkinson’s maternal grandparents were William Watts and Frances “Begum Johnson” Croke (the daughter of Edward Croke/Crooke and Isabella Beizor). William was Scottish, born in Glasgow, Scotland. Edward was of English descent.
It is often said that Prime Minister Jenkinson had some degree of Indian ancestry from his mother’s side (often one quarter or one eighth). It is not clear whether this is accurate. His maternal grandfather was Scottish, and his maternal grandmother’s father was English. This leaves his maternal great-grandmother, Isabella Beizor, as the only possible ancestor to have Indian ancestry. Her surname was Portuguese, though some Indians have Portuguese surnames. Some sources also state that Isabella was of mixed Portuguese and Indian descent.
It is known that Prime Minister Jenkinson’s great-grandparents were married. At the time, it was fairly common for members of the East India Company to engage in relationships with local Indian women, but it was less common for the couples to marry. This might suggest that Isabella Beizor was not of Indian descent, or at least not to a significant degree.
A painting of Prime Minister Jenkinson’s maternal grandmother can be seen here.
Sources: Genealogies of Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool – https://www.geni.com
http://www.wikitree.com
http://www.edwardjdavies.info
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com
Genealogy of Prime Minister Jenkinson’s paternal great-great-grandmother, Mary Saethon – http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com