Family and Education

b. c.1750, s. of James Jones, capt. 3 Ft. Gds., by Jemima, da. of Col. Tullekens. His sis. Jemima m. 1768 Charles, 2nd Earl Cornwallis. Took add. name of Skelton 1772 in accordance with will of his fa’s benefactor Lt.-Gen. Skelton.  m. Oct. 1775, Elizabeth, da. of William Hicks of Whitehaven and Papcastle, Cumb., 4s. 5da.

Offices Held

Ensign 3 Ft. Gds. 1772, lt. and capt. 1776; ret. 1779.

Biography

Returned by his brother-in-law, Lord Cornwallis, Skelton supported Administration in all five divisions of February-March 1782, but is not known to have spoken in the House. At the end of March he vacated his seat; and on 1 Apr. Lord Cornwallis’s brother, the bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, wrote to William Cornwallis:1 ‘Skelton is to have or rather has a pension on the list, for it was done by Lord North ... It was absolutely necessary for [Lord Cornwallis] to get rid of Skelton as he had entangled himself with him [presumably Lord North]’. But Skelton’s pension has not been traced.

He died 23 Mar. 1793.

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: Mary M. Drummond

Notes

• 1. HMC Var. vi. 329.