William Jackson (journalist)

The Reverend William Jackson (1737 – 30 April 1795) was a noted Irish preacher, journalist, playwright, radical, and spy who lived much of his life outside of his homeland.

William Jackson was born in Newtownards, Co. Down, in 1737. He studied at Oxford and became an Anglican curate. Much is unclear about Jackson's early life. He was evidently an attractive young man, notable for his popular preaching style and his outspoken opposition politics. He married, but lost his first wife to breast cancer in the early1770s. In the 1760s, Jackson served briefly in some capacity in the household of Augustus John Hervey, later the third Earl of Bristol. He claims to have travelled to Ireland when Hervey's older brother, George, was made Lord Lieutenant in 1766 (although the Oxford Dictionary of National Biographies entries on both Herveys insist that neither ever travelled to Ireland at this time). In that same decade, Jackson moved to London, where he preached at the Tavistock Chapel and St Mary-le-Strand. Although Jackson gained some popularity as a preacher, he remained unbeneficed and eventually turned to journalism to support himself.

In 1766, Jackson became the editor of The Public Ledger. Under his editorship, this London paper became increasingly strident and oppositional in its politics. Jackson gained notoriety for his bold style of writing and harsh criticisms of public figures. It was in his capacity as the editor of ‘‘The Public Ledger’’ that he was introduced to Elizabeth Chudleigh (the self-styled Duchess of Kingston, who was facing trial for bigamy) by one of her lawyers, John Cockayne. Even if Jackson had not met Chudleigh before, he was certainly familiar with her history, for her first (and true) husband was his former employer, Augustus Hervey. Embroiled in scandal over her trial for bigamy, Chudleigh hired Jackson to provide sympathetic press coverage. Jackson soon became a trusted confidante and advisor.

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