Gov. Edmund Jennings

https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Jenings_Edmund_1659-1727

Edmund Jenings served as Virginia's attorney general (ca. 1680–1691) and secretary of state (1696–1712), as well as on the governor's Council (1691–1726). As the president, or senior member, of that body, he also served as acting governor (1706–1710). Born and educated in England, Jenings came to Virginia with an introduction from the future King James II and an appointment to the post of attorney general. He became a political ally of Ralph Wormeley II and Richard Lee II, and helped his own political rise by marrying their relative, Frances Corbin. On the Council, Jenings tended to support the authority of royal governors, and although described by Robert Quary as "a man who is thought by all parties to be an indifferent person and unconcerned on either side," he made powerful enemies by defending the widely disliked Governor Francis Nicholson. After Nicholson's replacement died in office, Jenings served for four years as acting governor. He was largely ineffective, however, and during his later years he appeared to suffer from mental illness. When he became overwhelmed by debt, one of his political opponents, Robert "King" Carter, took over Jenings's management of the Northern Neck Proprietary, using that position to mortgage Jenings's land and property. In 1726, with another governor ill, the Council recommended Jenings's removal rather than let him serve again as acting governor. He died the next year.

Early Years

Edmund Jenings was born in 1659 at Ripon in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, the third son of Sir Edmund Jenings and Margaret Barkham. The Jenings family had risen to prominence in the sixteenth century by serving as stewards to the earls of Cumberland at Silsden in Yorkshire; young Edmund's father and grandfather both trained as barristers, and Jenings's father—who was among Yorkshire's sitting members of Parliament at the time of his son's birth—was knighted when Edmund was a year old.

Jenings was likely educated at the University of Cambridge, as were his father and grandfather; records confirm his matriculation at the Middle Temple of the Inns of Court in April 1674. Jenings's governmental career began in October 1676, when he served as undersheriff of Yorkshire for his father, who was then the county's sheriff and a sitting justice. This experience and his legal training would stand him in good stead in Virginia.

Political Career

Jenings first traveled to Virginia in 1680. He was preceded by his probable relative Peter Jenings, who served in the House of Burgesses (1659–1660), on the governor's Council (1670), and as attorney general (1670). Edmund Jenings arrived with a royal appointment to the post of attorney general and recommendations to then-governor Thomas Culpeper, second baron Culpeper of Thoresway, from his father and from James, duke of York (the future King James II). These introductions, signs of his father's prominent status in England, allowed Jenings to rise quickly in Virginia government. Within months he was appointed sheriff of James City County, in which capacity he attended the governor's Council at Jamestown when it sat as the General Court. He also served, from 1681 until 1692, as clerk of York County, where he simultaneously practiced as an attorney, and was later made county lieutenant in charge of the local militia.

During the 1680s, Jenings became an associate of a powerful political group centered around Ralph Wormeley II and Richard Lee II. Cousins by marriage, Wormeley and Lee were staunch supporters of the colony's royal governors, as had been Wormeley's uncle and Lee's father-in-law, Henry Corbin, who was a longtime associate and advisor of Governor Sir William Berkeley. Jenings cemented the alliance about 1688 by marrying Frances Corbin, youngest daughter of Henry Corbin and Alice Eltonhead. They would have a number of children, including Edmund II, Frances, and Elizabeth. In 1691, Governor Francis Nicholson appointed Jenings to the governor's Council, and in 1696 Jenings became deputy secretary of state, working closely with his wife's cousin Ralph Wormeley, who served for many years as the colony's secretary. When Wormeley died in 1701, Jenings was appointed secretary of state, taking the oath on June 23, 1702.

On December 26, 1700, Jenings was appointed to chair a committee tasked to revise the colony's laws, work that was completed on April 9, 1703. At this time, Jenings was instructed to "prepare a Transcript of all the Laws now in force," and on October 20, 1703, received a stipend of £100 to sail to England on that business. He left shortly thereafter. In his absence, a coalition of councillors made a concerted effort to have Governor Nicholson removed from office. These men, who included James Blair, Robert "King" Carter, and Benjamin Harrison II, were put off by Nicholson's attempt to assert the royal prerogative in Virginia by, among other things, seeking money for the defense of New York. Over the years, personal conflict only deepened these political differences. The temperamental and often profane governor had offended the minister Blair and had unsuccessfully courted Lucy Burwell, the daughter of Lewis Burwell, even making reference to the affair in a speech to the House of Burgesses in 1701.

In 1703, Blair and his cohorts sent Queen Anne a letter complaining of Nicholson's "unusuall insolent and Arbitrary methods of Government as well as wicked and Scandalous examples of life." While in England, Jenings emerged as Nicholson's primary defender, but it was to no avail. Jenings arrived back in Virginia in August 1705, probably on the same ship as the colony's new governor, Edward Nott.

Nott died in office on August 23, 1706, and his intended successor, Robert Hunter, was captured by the French on his way to Virginia and never served in the colony. As president, or senior member of the Council, Jenings served as acting governor beginning on August 27. The Board of Trade authorized Jenings to wield the same authority, and to receive the same salary, as a lieutenant governor. In practice, however, he did not have the same power, especially with a Council still unhappy with his previous support for Nicholson. During his four years as president, Jenings showed little initiative and, in many ways, bent to the will of the Council in order to maintain peace. Councillors unsuccessfully attempted to reduce his salary and perquisites as secretary and managed to delay authorization of his salary as acting governor. They also successfully advised him against calling a session of the House of Burgesses.

The new lieutenant governor, Alexander Spotswood, arrived in Virginia in June 1710, and Jenings immediately offended him by offering "some schemes of politick" concerning management of the Council. Jenings's fellow councillors, meanwhile, moved to undermine his influence with the new governor. On December 22, 1711, a royal warrant granted Jenings leave to return to England again, this time on personal business; William Cocke, Spotswood's personal physician, was appointed secretary in his place.

Later Years

Jenings's wife, Frances, died in London in 1713 and was likely buried at St. Clement Dane's. Jenings returned to Virginia in the spring of 1715, but only because councillors were conspiring to have him removed from the Council for his long absence. By now, Jenings's political and financial affairs were in disarray. In England, he had obtained from Lady Catherine Fairfax the position of land agent for the Northern Neck Proprietary. In so doing, he had made an enemy of the former land agent, Robert Carter. Jenings left the agency in the hands of his nephew Thomas Lee while he was away; Lee collected the rents, which Jenings then borrowed from the agency to pay his own personal debts. Jenings had apparently expected to inherit a large sum from an elder brother whose estate he was settling while in England, but the fortune did not materialize. He returned to Virginia unpopular, indebted, and bitterly disliked by Carter and his associates. When Lady Fairfax died, in May 1719, Carter was quickly appointed the Northern Neck's new agent.

Jenings never obtained the favor with Spotswood that he had enjoyed with earlier governors, although he was briefly in his good graces when the governor again appointed him to serve as the colony's secretary, from 1720 to 1722. Jenings continued to attend the Council until about 1724, when his health suddenly deteriorated. Early in June 1726, with Governor Hugh Drysdale mortally ill and Jenings, as senior member of the council, still in place to serve as acting governor, the Council launched an inquiry into Jenings's health and activities. Sir John Randolph concluded that Jenings suffered from "a palsy," perhaps the equivalent of a disabling stroke or Parkinson's disease. Randolph found Jenings barely able to speak or write and reported that his hands trembled constantly and that he had difficulty composing and expressing his thoughts.

Title: Ripon Hall Ripon Hall

When, on June 24, 1726, the Council's clerk, William Robertson, informed Jenings at his Ripon Hall home that he had been found incompetent, Jenings "fell to crying" and resisted the decision. The Council met the next day and concluded, finally, that Jenings was, "by reason of the insanity of his mind and memory a person altogether incapable of administering the Government." Governor Drysdale officially suspended him from the Council, making Carter the senior member. Drysdale died the following summer, and Carter served as acting governor for just over a year.

Jenings lost the Northern Neck Proprietary to Carter, then the presidency of the governor's Council. He also lost to Carter most of his lands, his slaves, and his estate, Ripon Hall. On October 2, 1722, John Carter wrote to the Fairfax family's representative that his father, Robert Carter, had convinced Jenings to mortgage his land in order to meet his debts. A letter from Robert Carter, dated July 9, 1724, mentioned that all of Jenings's land and slaves were mortgaged. By September 12, 1728, with a change in his will, Carter claimed even Jenings's Ripon Hall mansion.

Edmund Jenings died on July 5, 1727, and was buried at Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg.

Time Line

1659 - Edmund Jenings is born at Ripon in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, the third son of Sir Edmund Jenings and Margaret Barkham.

April 1674 - Edmund Jenings matriculates at the Middle Temple of the Inns of Court in London.

October 1676 - Edmund Jenings serves as undersheriff of Yorkshire, England; his father, Sir Edmund, is the county's high sheriff.

May 1680–July 1680 - Edmund Jenings arrives in Virginia with introductions from his father and the future King James II, and a royal appointment to the post of attorney general.

August 3, 1680 - Edmund Jenings is appointed sheriff of James City County.

February 24, 1681 - Edmund Jenings becomes clerk of York County, a position he holds until 1691.

July 1684 - Francis Howard, baron Howard of Effingham, Edmund Jenings, and Ralph Wormeley travel to Albany, New York, to meet in a Grand Assembly with leaders of the Five Nations and the governor and Council of New York.

September 1685 - Edmund Jenings, William Byrd, and Virginia Indian leaders return to Albany, New York, for a second Grand Assembly with the colony's governor and Council and leaders of the Five Nations.

ca. 1688 - Edmund Jenings marries Frances Corbin, daughter of Henry Corbin and Alice Eltonhead. Frances is first cousin to Ralph Wormeley II and a sister-in-law of Richard Lee II, two of the colony's leading political figures.

1688 - Edmund Jenings becomes collector of customs and naval officer for the York River District.

1691 - Edmund Jenings purchases a lot in newly founded Yorktown near Ripon Hall, his home on the York River.

April 21, 1691 - Governor Francis Nicholson appoints Edmund Jenings to the governor's Council.

1692 - Edmund Jenings resigns as Virginia attorney general after being named to the governor's Council.

1696 - Secretary of State Ralph Wormeley appoints Edmund Jenings to serve as deputy secretary.

December 26, 1700 - Governor Francis Nicholson appoints Edmund Jenings to a committee charged with revising the colony's law code; Jenings directs the committee until it completes the revision in April 1703. Nicholson then charges Jenings with transcribing and arranging the laws and presenting them to the Board of Trade in London.

January 1, 1702 - Edmund Jenings succeeds Ralph Wormeley as Virginia secretary of state and holds the office until 1712; the appointment alienates William Byrd and Philip Ludwell, who also sought the position.

June 23, 1702 - Edmund Jenings takes the oath of office as Virginia secretary of state.

April 9, 1703 - A committee directed to revise the Virginia colony's law code finishes its work. The committee chairman, Edmund Jenings, is instructed to "prepare a Transcript of all the Laws now in force."

May 20, 1703 - Six members of the governor's Council—James Blair, Robert Carter, Benjamin Harrison II, John Lightfoot, Philip Ludwell, and Matthew Page—complete a letter to Queen Anne urging her to remove Governor Francis Nicholson.

August 1703 - James Blair leaves on a second trip to England to lobby for the removal of a governor, this time Francis Nicholson.

October 20, 1703 - Edmund Jenings receives £100 to sail to England to "prepare a Transcript of all the Laws now in force" in the Virginia colony. He leaves shortly thereafter.

December 8, 1703 - Edmund Jenings presents to the Board of Trade a letter from Governor Francis Nicholson defending himself against the efforts of the governor's Council to have him removed.

August 1705 - Edmund Jenings, in England since 1703, likely accompanies the new governor, Edward Nott, on his voyage from London to Virginia. Soon after, Jenings becomes the senior member, or president, of the governor's Council.

August 23, 1706 - Governor Edward Nott dies in office.

August 27, 1706 - After the death in office of Governor Edward Nott, Edmund Jenings, the senior member, or president, of the governor's Council, begins serving as acting governor.

June 21, 1710 - The new lieutenant governor, Alexander Spotswood, lands in Jamestown.

December 22, 1711 - A royal warrant grants Edmund Jenings leave to return to England, ostensibly to settle the estate of his older brother. William Cocke is appointed secretary of state in his place.

1713 - Frances Corbin Jenings, wife of Edmund Jenings, dies in London.

1713 - Through the influence of his brother-in-law, Thomas Corbin, Edmund Jenings is named by Lady Catherine Fairfax as agent for the Northern Neck Proprietary, replacing Robert "King" Carter.

Spring 1715 - After more than three years in England, Edmund Jenings returns to Virginia when he discovers that his political enemies acted to have him removed from the governor's Council.

May 1719 - Lady Catherine Fairfax dies; soon after, her family's representatives replace Edmund Jenings with Robert "King" Carter as agent of the Northern Neck Proprietary.

October 1720 - Governor Alexander Spotswood appoints Edmund Jenings to serve for a second time as secretary of state; Jenings holds the position until 1722.

October 2, 1722 - John Carter writes to the Fairfax family representative that his father, Robert "King" Carter, agent of the Northern Neck Proprietary, has convinced the former agent, Edmund Jenings, to mortgage his land in order to meet his debts.

June 11, 1724 - A member of the governor's Council since 1691, Edmund Jenings attends his last meeting of the Council. During that summer his mental and physical health begin to fail dramatically.

July 9, 1724 - A letter from Robert "King" Carter mentions that all of Edmund Jenings's land and slaves have been mortgaged as payment for his debts.

June 24, 1726 - The governor's Council clerk, William Robertson, informs Edmund Jenings at his Ripon Hall estate that the Council has found him incompetent to serve. Jenings is moved to tears and resists the decision.

June 25, 1726 - The governor's Council meets again to consider the health and affairs of Edmund Jenings and declares him to be "by reason of the insanity of his mind and memory a person altogether incapable of administering the Government." The governor removes him from office, making Robert "King" Carter senior member of the Council.

July 5, 1727 - Edmund Jenings dies and is buried in Bruton Parish Church, in Williamsburg.

September 12, 1728 - A change in the will of Robert "King" Carter claims right to the late Edmund Jenings's York River estate, Ripon Hall, as payment for debts owed.

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Edmund Jenings

Edmund Jenings was a Virginian politician. He was President of the Council of Virginia and later became the acting governor from August 23, 1706, to June 10, 1708.

His father Sir Edmund Jenings was a Member of Parliament. His daughter, Elizabeth Jenings, married Robert Porteus, and was the mother of Beilby Porteus, Bishop of Chester and London.

Ariana, his granddaughter, married John Randolph. They were parents of Edmund Randolph, who was Governor of Virginia and the first Attorney General of the United States under George Washington.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Jenings

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• Edmund Jenings
• Birth: 1659 West Yorkshire, England
• Death: 1727 York County, Virginia, USA
• Marker found on grave near marble slab.
• The Hon. Edmund Jenings, Esq, son of Sir Edmund Jenings of Ripon in Yorkshire, England was born in 1659 and died in 1727. He was Attorney General, Secretary of State, President of the Council, and from 1706-1710 Acting-Governor of the Colony of Virginia. For many years he was a Vestryman of Bruton Parish and was serving the Church in this capacity when this building was erected. In 1710 he was instrumenal in persuading the House of Burgesses "to appropriate a sufficient sum of money for the building pews for the Governor, Council and House of Burgesses" in the two wings and intervening part of the Church, this entire portion of the Church being subsequently built and paid for by the House of Burgesses under the supervision of Governor Alexander Spotswood.
• Marble slab placed here in 1905.
• All above quoted from the pamphlet titled A GUIDE TO THE MEMORIALS OF BRUTON PARISH CHURCH with maps, published by Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg, VA, 2006 edited by Susan H. Godson, maps by Joseph L. Spruill, photographs by Hal Lindsay and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
• Inscription:
• E. J.
• JU-- 1727.
• Burial: Bruton Parish Episcopal Church Cemetery, Williamsburg, Williamsburg City, Virginia, USA
• Find A Grave Memorial# 35710621
• From: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=35710621 _______________

EDMUND JENINGS was son of Sir Edmund Jenings, of Ripon, Yorkshire, England, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Edward Barkham, Lord Mayor of London 1621-'22. He was born in 1659, and died June 2, 1727. He came to Virginia at an early age, and settled in York county. He was appointed Attorney-General in 1680, and retained the office till after 1692. He was appointed to the Council in 1701, and remained a member till his death. In 1704, he was appointed Secretary of State, and from June, 1706 till August 23, 1710, he was acting Governor. Later he would have again become Acting Governor, but was set aside on account of his feeble health. He married Frances, daughter of Henry Corbin, of Buckingham House, and had issue (1) Frances, married Charles Grymes, of Moratico, Richmond county, and was ancestress of Gen. R. E. Lee; (2) Elizabeth, married Robert Porteus, of New Bottle, Gloucester county, who afterwards removed to England, where she became the mother of Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London; (3) Edmund, Secretary of Maryland, married in 1728 Anna, widow of James Frisby and Thomas Bordley, and daughter of Matthias Vanderheyden, by which marriage he was father of Ariana (who married John Randolph of Virginia, and who was mother of Edmund Randolph, first Attorney-General of Virginia, and of the United States), and a son, Edmund, who died unmarried in 1819.

Source: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/schools/wmmary/quarterly/v10n1/pg3...

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• Links
• http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~marshall/esmd179.htm

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Edmund Jennings of royal descent citing  the book Plantagenet Ancestry  of Seventeenth-Century Colonists  by David Farris