Richard Stephens Jackson

Richard Stephens Jackson (7 May 1850 – 10 June 1938) was a British solicitor and Liberal Party politician.

Early life

Born in Newington in north Kent, Jackson was the son of John Jackson of Sittingbourne, a surveyor, and his wife Harriet née Tress of Upchurch. Following education at Elm House School in Sittingbourne, he spent some time as a merchant seaman, before being admitted as a solicitor in 1872. He practised in that Sittingbourne, Greenwich and London.

London County Council He entered politics when he was elected to represent Greenwich on the first London County Council in January 1889. He was a member of the majority Progressive Party on the council, which was allied to the parliamentary Liberal Party. He was re-elected in 1892. On the council he took a particular interest in progressing the construction of the Blackwall Tunnel.

1900 general election Jackson contested the 1900 general election as the Liberal Party's candidate at Greenwich, standing against the sitting Conservative MP Lord Hugh Cecil. Jackson failed to be elected, with Cecil retaining the seat by a majority of nearly 2,000 votes.

Greenwich Borough Council Jackson was a member of the Greenwich Vestry and Board of Works. He was mayor of Greenwich in 1902–1903.

Personal life

Jackson and his wife, Mary Ann, née Bell, had nine children, one of whom died in infancy. Their sixth, William Henry Jackson, was an Anglican priest who served as a missionary in Burma (now Myanmar), and invented Burmese Braille.

Not long after the birth of William, the family moved to Stobcross Lodge, at Crooms Hill, Blackheath, where they remained for around two decades.

Mary Ann's death in late July or early August 1931 preceded that of William, which was in December that year.