Sir Charles James Jackson (2 May 1849 – 23 April 1923) was a British businessman, collector, barrister, newspaper executive, politician, and writer, who was an authority on antique gold and
silver plate
Plating is a surface covering in which a metal is deposited on a conductive surface. Plating has been done for hundreds of years; it is also critical for modern technology. Plating is used to decorate objects, for corrosion inhibition, to impro ...
.
Biography
Jackson was born in
Monmouth
Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...
, the son of James Edward Jackson and his wife, Mary Ann Bass. The Jackson family owned a building company in Monmouth, but in 1860 removed to
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
. There, they established a successful business, designing and constructing buildings and investing in commercial property. Charles Jackson described himself as an architect. In 1879 he stood as an independent candidate for
Roath
Roath ( cy, Y Rhath) is a district and community to the north-east of the city centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales.
There is no community council for the area which is mostly covered by the Plasnewydd electoral ward, and stretches from Adamsdow ...
ward on Cardiff Borough Council, but was not elected. However, in 1882 he was elected as the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
councillor for the Cardiff East ward.
[David Lewis Jones, ''Charles James Jackson'', Dictionary of Welsh Biography]
Accessed 21 May 2012
He stood down from the council in 1887, to complete his training as a
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
. In 1888, he was called to the bar at the
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 an ...
, and thereafter developed his own practice on the South Wales legal circuit, as well as working on private Parliamentary bills relating to the building industry. After his sister Helen married
Henry Lascelles Carr
Henry Lascelles Carr (1841 – 5 October 1902), known as Lascelles Carr, was a Great Britain, British newspaper proprietor and businessman. Born in Yorkshire, Carr relocated to South Wales where he became a journalist. Carr became editor of th ...
, the owner of the ''
Western Mail'' who later became the proprietor of the ''
News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'', Charles Jackson became a director of the newspaper in 1893. In 1901, he moved to London, and lived at
Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
and later in
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End.
...
. He succeeded Carr as chairman of the ''News of the World'' in 1902, and retained the post until his death. He was noted for attending the newspaper's printing each week, and gave
tip
Tip commonly refers to:
* Tip (gambling)
* Tip (gratuity)
* Tip (law enforcement)
* another term for Advice (opinion), Advice
Tip or TIP may also refer to:
Science and technology
* Tank phone, a device allowing infantry to communicate with the oc ...
s of
half a crown to the production and delivery staff for ensuring that it was printed in time for the night train.
[
Jackson's investments in the newspaper, and his property holdings, made him a wealthy man, and allowed him to indulge his passion for silver. He gradually built up a large collection, especially of silver spoons, and made extensive studies of silver held by museums and in church and municipal collections. In 1890, he read a paper to the Society of Antiquaries on the history of the spoon, and ]Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
allowed her silver-gilt
Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French term vermeil, is silver (either pure or sterling) which has been gilded with gold. Most large objects made in goldsmithing that appear to be gold are actually ...
Coronation spoon to be displayed at the meeting. He was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1891.[
He wrote authoritatively on the history of gold and silver objects. His first book was ''English Goldsmiths and their Marks'', first published in 1905 and later republished several times in updated versions, most recently in 1989 as ''Jackson's Silver and Gold Marks of England, Scotland and Ireland''. The book contains details of each ]assay office Assay offices are institutions set up to Metallurgical assay, assay (test the purity of) precious metals. This is often done to protect consumers from buying fake items. Upon successful completion of an assay (i.e. if the metallurgical content is fo ...
in the country, with their various marks. He also wrote ''An Illustrated History of English Plate, Ecclesiastical and Secular'', published in 1911.[ His two books are described as "the foundation of modern silver scholarship".][
He was influential in establishing the ]National Museum of Wales
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
, and for helping ensure that it was based in Cardiff.[ National Museum of Wales, ''A unique collection of silver saved from the hammer'', 19 February 2007]
Accessed 21 May 2012 He agreed in 1922 to lend about a quarter of his collection of silver to the museum, which gradually added more of his pieces on loan until, in 1947, it completed the acquisition of his collection, holding it on behalf of the family trust. In 2001, the museum completed the purchase of half of the total collection. The museum describes some of his collection as:"...of outstanding aesthetic quality. Rare items include an early 14th-century acorn-top spoon, which is one of the first hallmarked pieces of English silver, and a complete set of 'apostle' spoons (twelve apostles and the 'Master') from 1638. The most important item is probably a two-handled cup in the auricular style
The auricular style or lobate style (Dutch: ''Kwabstijl'', German: ''Ohrmuschelstil'') is a style of ornamental decoration, mainly found in Northern Europe in the first half of the 17th century, bridging Northern Mannerism and the Baroque. The s ...
(a 17th century ornamental style based on parts of the human anatomy, particularly the human ear, after which the style is named) associated with the Dutch silversmith Christian van Vianen, who worked for the court of Charles I....Unusual, inspirational pieces in the collection include one of the earliest known silver wine tasters, a 17th-century Catholic chalice made in Cork that can be taken apart for concealment, and an inkstand in the form of a library globe..."
Sir Charles Jackson was knighted in 1919, for services to the Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
during the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. He died in 1923, and was buried in Putney Vale Cemetery
Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium in southwest London is located in Putney Vale, surrounded by Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park. It is located within of parkland. The cemetery was opened in 1891 and the crematorium in 1938. ...
.[
Jackson was married twice, firstly to Agnes Catherine Martin and then to Ada Elizabeth Williams. With his second wife he had three children: Daphne, Vivian, and ]Derek
Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of '' Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler".
Common variants of the name ar ...
.[ Derek Jackson became Professor of ]Spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...
at Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
between 1947 and 1957, and was also noted for his flamboyant personal life as a "rampant bisexual"‘Derek, please, not so fast’
Ferdinand Mount, London Review of Books, 7 February 2008 who was married six times.
References
;Secondary sources
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External links
*https://web.archive.org/web/20111108110206/http://www.antiquesilverspoons.co.uk/Sir%20Charles%20Jackson.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Charles James
1849 births
1923 deaths
People from Monmouth, Wales
British businesspeople
Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery
Councillors in Cardiff
Conservative Party (UK) councillors
Members of the Middle Temple
Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Knights Bachelor