David James Jenkins

Who was David James Jenkins?

David James Jenkins was a Welsh shipowner and Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1874 to 1886.

Jenkins was the son of John Jenkins of Haverfordwest and his wife Mary Evans daughter of John Evans. He was educated at Teignmouth Grammar School. He served for several years in the merchant navy and in 1854 and 1855 commanded a troop ship in the Baltic. In 1860, he founded the firm of Jenkins & Co in London which began owning ships in 1861 and sailed mainly to India and the Far East.

He contested Harwich at the 1868 general election, without success. At the 1874 general election Jenkins was elected as a Member of Parliament for Penryn and Falmouth. He held the seat until the 1886 general election, when he was defeated by the Conservative Party candidate William Cavendish-Bentinck.

Jenkins died at the age of 66.