On the resignation of Thomas, Lord Wyndham, Jocelyn, through the influence of his old friend Lord Hardwicke, was appointed Lord Chancellor, and took his seat as speaker of the Irish House of Lordsat the opening of Parliament on 9 October 1739. He was created Baron Newport, of Newport, in the County Tipperaryby letters patent dated 29 November 1743. As Lord Chancellor, he was one of those charged with designing measures to alleviate the Famine of 1740–1, which was so severe that it became known as "the year of slaughter". One historian has criticised the measures which were put in place as both harsh and ineffective. On 3 February 1744 he presided as Lord High Steward at the trial of Nicholas Netterville, 5th Viscount Netterville, who was indicted for the murder of Michael Walsh, but was acquitted, on the grounds that the two main witnesses against him had died before the trial, and their depositions could not be relied on as evidence. Surprisingly little is known about the details of the crime. He was created Viscount Jocelyn, also in the peerage of Ireland, by letters patent dated 6 December 1755 In September 1756 the Great Seal of Ireland was put in commission during Jocelyn's absence from Ireland for the recovery of his health. He never returned, and, dying in London on 3 December 1756, aged 68, was buried at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire.
Character assessment and memorials
Jocelyn is described by Lord Chesterfield as "a man of great worth". He possessed an amiable character, and literary and antiquarian tastes. He served no fewer than nine times as one of the Lords Justices during the absence of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and was president of the Dublin Physico-Historical Society. Among the Addit. MSS. in the British Museum there is an interesting letter written by Jocelyn to the Duke of Newcastle, calling the duke's attention to "the very extraordinary height to which the disputes and animosities here have been unhappily carried". He was a man of simple tastes and unassuming manner: it was noted with amusement that both his chaplain, Isaac Mann, and his house steward Mr Wilde were frequently mistaken for him, as both had far more of the grand manner expected of a nobleman than Jocelyn did. He was happiest at home, rarely leaving it in his leisure time, his main recreation being walks in the surrounding countryside. Elrington Ball states that though in politics he remained an Englishman, his love for his adopted country, which he scarcely left in the last twenty years of his life, entitles him to be called an honorary Irishman. Two portraits of Jocelyn by the leading artist Stephen Slaughter were in the possession of the Earl of Roden in 1890. A marble bust by John Bacon was erected to his memory in Sawbridgeworth Church by his son.
Family
Jocelyn married, firstly, in 1720, Charlotte, daughter and co-heiress of Charles Anderson of Worcester; her sister Anne married Timothy Goodwin, Archbishop of Cashel. Their only son, Robert, succeeded him as second viscount, and was created Earl of Roden of High Roding in the county of Tipperary on 1 December 1771. The death of Charlotte, "the best of wives" caused him intense grief. On 15 November 1754 Jocelyn married, secondly, Frances, daughter of Thomas Claxton of Dublin, and widow of Richard Parsons, 1st Earl of Rosse. Though short-lived, this marriage was also a happy one. She survived her second husband, and died on 25 May 1772.
