Background
Jenkins was born in Swansea the son of Daniel and Elizabeth Jenkins.
Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom
Jenkins was born in Swansea the son of Daniel and Elizabeth Jenkins.
At the age of 13 years, Jenkins went to work as an office boy in the Swansea docks where he acquired a thorough knowledge of the coal and shipping trades. He later set up his own business W A Jenkins & Co, wholesale coal and coke factors and shipbrokers. His business expanded greatly during World War One.
He served for some years as President of the Swansea Chamber of Trade and was Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. Parliament Jenkins was first elected to Parliament at the 1922 general election as a National Liberal. At the 1923 general election he was returned unopposed as a Liberal (without suffix or prefix) for the same seat but in 1924 he faced a three-cornered contest against Labour and Conservative opposition and he lost the seat to the Tories.
During his time in Parliament, Jenkins was a contributor to debates concerning industrial questions and Welsh issues. Local politics and public service In 1928 he was appointed a Justice of the Peace for the County of Glamorgan and was sometime Chairman of the Bench of Magistrates, Gower Petty sessional division. Other civic or public offices During his long life, Jenkins held a number of other public positions including: President of the South West Wales Savings Bank President of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society (1949) President of the Swansea and Central Wales Adult Deaf and Dumb Mission President of the Deaf and Dumb Regional Association for Wales Jenkins died at the age of 90 years on 23 October 1968.
He did not fight again a Parliamentary election again until 1936 when he stood as the candidate of the National Government with the support of the local Liberal and Conservative parties under the description National Liberal at a by-election in Llanelly.
[32nd United Kingdom Parliament. 33rd United Kingdom Parliament]Jenkins sat as a member of Swansea Borough Council from 1927 to 1954 and served as Mayor of Swansea between 1947 and 1949. He was a member of the Court of Governors and Council of University College, Swansea.