Richard Jackson, KC (c. 1721 – 6 May 1787), nicknamed "Omniscient Jackson", was a British lawyer and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1762 to 1784. A King's Counsel, he acted as Official Solicitor or counsel of the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, owner of lands in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

, and colonial agent of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. Jackson was called to the bar in 1744; he became a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

of Lincoln's Inn in 1770 and its treasurer in 1780. He was a teacher of law in the Inner and

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

s; among his students was William Franklin, son of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a m ...

. Jackson was a collaborator in Franklins' political interests during their London years. He was also

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis from 1762 to 1768 and for New Romney from 1768 until 1784, and was one of the Lords of the Treasury from 1782 to 1783. In 1781, he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

References

*Robert Beatson, "A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament" (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807

*''Concise Dictionary of National Biography'' * 1720s births 1787 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Members of Lincoln's Inn British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub