Robert Banks Jenkinson, Baron Hawkesbury and later 2nd Earl of Liverpool is chiefy remembered as one of Britain's longest serving Prime Ministers who led the country during the war with France and the ensuing peace. He first entered politics at the age of twenty in 1790 but did not make his maiden speach until he had come of age the following year. He was educated at Charterhouse and Christ Church College, Oxford and travelled in Europe after leaving in 1789 and while in Paris he witnessed the storming of the Bastille. His career progressed rapidly and in 1799 he was appointed master of the Mint and entered the cabinet in 1801 as Foreign Secretary. When his father was created Earl of Liverpool he assumed the courtesy title of Lord Hawkesbury and it was with this title that he was called to the house of Lords in 1803. In 1804 he was appointed Home Secretary and became leader of the House of Lords. After his father's death in 1808 he succeeded to the Earldom of Liverpool. The madness of the King necessitated the setting up of the regency in 1810 in which Lord Liverpool took a leading role. On 7 June 1812, after Lord Wellesley and Lord Moira's failure to form a government following the assination of Spencer Perceval on 11 May, he became Prime Minister, a post he was to hold until 1827. He was awarded the Garter on the visit of the Allied Soveriegns to London 1814.

During his office he had to contend with the continuing quarrells between the Regent and his wife, the imprisonment of Napoleon, the riots of St. Peter's Fields and the problems in Ireland. His actions often meant he suffered a degree of unpopularity which was greater than he deserved however he held office longer than any other Prime Minister with the exception of Walpole and Pitt. He died in 1827 having resigned his office in 1826 following a stroke.

He is not only remebered as a political figure but also as a prominent and influential trustee of the National Gallery and the British Museum.