Author: Jefferys, John
Biography:
JEFFERYS, John (1777-1835: ancestry.com)
The author of The Pleasures of Retirement befriended the poet Thomas Campbell (q.v.) when both men were studying law at Glasgow College (now University). In his poem “Addressed to Thomas Campbell,” he speaks of himself as “one who lov’d thee much.” He was baptized 17 Nov 1745 at the Congregational Old Meeting House, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the younger son of a successful miller, John Jefferys (b 1745). His great aunt Elizabeth was the half-sister of the originator of Sunday Schools, Robert Raikes, and a sister-in-law of Francis Newbery (q.v.). He won the mathematics prize at Glasgow College in his senior year, 1798-1799. On 10 May 1806 at the Congregational Church in Old Swinford, Worcestershire, he married Harriet (d 1822), a daughter of nail-ironmonger George Stokes. There were three daughters and two sons by the marriage. His son Matthew (1814-1864) attended Rugby School in 1828 and Brasenose College from 1832. His son John (b 1809) entered Lincoln’s Inn in 1830 and was called to the bar in 1835. Indicative of Jeffery’s local standing, in 1808 he was commissioned lieutenant colonel commanding the West Worcestershire Regiment. Ten years later, he was sheriff of the county. He married for a second time, Aug. 1824, at St Olave, Hart Street, London, Caroline (1796-1874), a daughter of nonconformist Thomas Davy, a wealthy drug merchant in Gould Square, and his wife, Sarah (Savill) Davy. John and Caroline had a single child. Upon the death of his uncle Matthew (1740-1815), he inherited the family manor, Blakebrook (alt. Blakebrooke) House, that he sold in 1833. He died 9 July 1835 at his London residence, 9 Osnaburgh Terrace, Regent’s Park. At probate, his wife Caroline’s estate was valued under £20,000. (Alumni Oxonienses; Monthly Magazine 21 [June 1806], 474; Worcester Journal 14 Feb. 1822, 29 Aug. 1822; Oxford Journal, 4 Sept. 1824; Satirist; or the Censor of the Times, 19 July 1835; Boyle’s Court and Country Guide [1838], 433; W. I. Addison, Prize Lists of the University of Glasgow [1902], 81; Records of the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn [1902], 4:254; N. Gilbert, The Rise and Fall of Franche Hall [1999]) JC