Robert Jenkins
Robert Jenkins (fl. 1731—1745), English master mariner, is known as the protagonist of the "Jenkins's ear" incident, which, magnified in
England by the press and the opposition, became a contributory cause of the
War of Jenkins' Ear between England and
Spain (1739). Bringing home the brig
Rebecca from the
West Indies in 1731, Jenkins was boarded by a Spanish guarda-costa, whose commander rifled the holds and cut off one of his ears. On arriving in England Jenkins stated his grievance to the king, and a report was furnished by the
Commander-in-Chief in the West Indies confirming his account. At first the case created no great stir, but in 1738 he repeated his story with dramatic detail before a committee of the
House of Commons, producing what purported to be the ear that had been cut off. (Afterwards it was suggested that he might have lost the ear in the
pillory.)
Jenkins was subsequently given the command of a ship in the British East India Company's service, and later became supervisor of the company's affairs at Saint Helena. In 1741 he was sent from England to that island to investigate charges of corruption brought against the acting governor, and from May 1741 until March 1742 he administered the affairs of the island. Thereafter he resumed his naval career, and is stated in an action with a pirate vessel to have preserved his own vessel and three others under his care (see T. H. Brooke, History of the Island of St Helena (London, 2nd ed., 1824), and H. R. Janisch, Extracts from the St Helena Records, 1885).
Bulk text originally from http://1911encyclopedia.org