Francis James Jackson (December 1770 – 5 August 1814) was a British diplomat, ambassador to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Career

Francis Jackson entered the

diplomatic service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

aged only 16 and served as a

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

clerk. In April 1788 he brought back from

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

the signed copy of "a treaty of defensive alliance between His Majesty and the States General of the United Provinces" which was signed on 15 April. This treaty and a subsequent alliance with Prussia in August 1788 created a "Triple Alliance" against Russia which, however, lasted only until 1791. In 1789 Jackson was appointed Secretary to the British

legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legation ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He later held a similar post in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

where he acted as Minister (head of mission) ''ad interim'' after the departure of Lord St Helens in 1794 until the arrival of the Marquess of Bute in 1795 (because Lord Yarmouth, who should have succeeded St Helens, did not go). Jackson was then appointed ambassador to the

Ottoman Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildin ...

in 1796. In November 1801 Marquess Cornwallis was sent to France to finalise peace terms: the negotiations took place at Amiens, and resulted in the

Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France, the Spanish Empire, and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it set t ...

signed on 25 March 1802. Cornwallis took with him to Amiens the secretary to the embassy in Paris, Anthony Merry, and Jackson was sent to take Merry's place ''ad interim'' with the rank of minister-plenipotentiary. In October 1802 he moved on to be

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

in Berlin, where he stayed until 1806 when

was defeated in the

War of the Fourth Coalition The War of the Fourth Coalition () was a war spanning 1806–1807 that saw a multinational coalition fight against Napoleon's First French Empire, French Empire, subsequently being defeated. The main coalition partners were Kingdom of Prussia, ...

. In 1807 he was sent on a special mission to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

where he witnessed the bombardment of Copenhagen. In 1809 Jackson was sent to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary after the recall of David Erskine when the British government refused to ratify Erskine's attempt to resolve the difficulties following a conflict between HMS ''Leopard'' and the US frigate ''Chesapeake'' (the ''Chesapeake–Leopard'' affair). Jackson remained at Washington until 1811. He died at Brighton, after a long illness, in 1814. The ''

Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning ...

'' reported his death thus:

On Friday evening died at Brighton, in the 44th year of his age, Francis James Jackson, Esq., late his Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States of America.
Mr Jackson had the honour of serving his Majesty and his country from the early age of 16. In the course of his professional life he was appointed Ambassador to the Ottoman Porte, and Accredited Minister to the Courts of Madrid and Berlin. At the latter place he married and resided, until the cessation of intercourse between the two kingdoms of great Britain and Prussia, in 1806. He was also employed in various temporary missions of great importance to Vienna, Paris and Copenhagen. This long and honourable career of public service, under different Administrations, abundantly proves that the confidence of his Sovereign was justly placed, and bears ample testimony to his diplomatic talents, his private life, his domestic and affectionate habits, and his virtues as a son, a brother, a husband, a father, and a friend, will never be obliterated from the memory of his relatives and connections.
– "Mr Jackson", ''The Morning Post'', London, 11 August 1814

References

External links

Records relating to Francis James Jackson
at the UK National Archives * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Francis James 1770 births 1814 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Spain Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to France Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Prussia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States