Roy Jenkins - Early Life

Early Life

Born in Abersychan, Monmouthshire, in south-eastern Wales, as an only child, Roy Jenkins was the son of a National Union of Mineworkers official, Arthur Jenkins. His father was imprisoned during the 1926 General Strike for his involvement in a riot and later became Member of Parliament for Pontypool, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Clement Attlee, and briefly a minister in the 1945 Labour government. Jenkins's mother, Hattie Harris, was the daughter of a steelworks manager.

Jenkins was educated at Abersychan County School, University College, Cardiff, and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was twice defeated for the Presidency of the Oxford Union but took First Class Honours in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE). His university colleagues included Tony Crosland, Denis Healey, and Edward Heath, and he became friends with all three, although he was never particularly close to Healey. During the Second World War he served with the Royal Artillery and then at Bletchley Park, reaching the rank of captain. On 20 January 1945, in the final year of the War, he married Jennifer Morris. She was made a DBE for services to ancient and historical buildings.