Edward Winnington or Jeffreys (8 October 1669 – 20 July 1725), of

Ham Castle Ham Castle (also known as Home or Homme Castle) is located in Worcestershire at the bottom of a wooded escarpment (and close to the River Teme), within the parish of Clifton-upon-Teme, about east of the village of Clifton-upon-Teme and south ...

, Droitwich, was an English lawyer, judge and Tory politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1708 to 1725. He was considered the most powerful advocate on the Oxford circuit of his time.

Early life

Jeffreys was born Winnington, a younger son of

Sir Francis Winnington Sir Francis Winnington (7 November 1634 – 1 May 1700) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1677 and 1698. He became Solicitor-General to King Charles II. Biography Winnington entered t ...

and his second wife Elizabeth Salway, daughter of

Edward Salwey Edward Salwey (born 1603) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1659. Salwey was the son of Humphrey Salwey of Stanford Court, Stanford-on-Teme and his wife Anne Littleton, daughter of Sir Edward Littleton. H ...

. He was admitted at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1687, and

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

on 18 May 1694. He married Jane Bloom, daughter of William Bloom of Altofts, Yorkshire, and the niece and heiress of Henry Jeffreys of

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, in about 1709. He took the name Edward Jeffreys to inherit the Jeffreys estates.

Career

Jeffreys was returned unopposed as Tory

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Droitwich Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester. The ...

at the

1708 general election Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

. He voted against the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell. At the

1710 general election Year 171 ( CLXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Herennianus (or, less frequently, year 924 ''Ab urbe con ...

, he was returned unopposed again. He was listed as a ‘worthy patriot’ who helped to detect the mismanagements of the previous administration, and as a member of the

October Club The October Club was a group of Tory Members of Parliament, established after the 1710 general election. The Club was active until approximately 1714. The group took its name from the strong ale they reportedly drank.Pat Rogers, �October Club (' ...

. He was not very active in Parliament and appears to have been devoting time and effort as a practicing barrister. In 1711 he was made a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

and was appointed Puisne Justice of the Great Sessions for

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

Cardiganshire Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

, and

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

. Within a year, he resigned his judgeship in favour of his brother in November 1712 and appears to have preferred to concentrate on his lucrative legal practice. He was dealing with several cases of great political importance. At the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 Robert Harley had led a government appointed after the downfall of the Whig Junto, attempting to pursue a moderate and non-controversial policy, b ...

, he was returned unopposed again for Droitwich. He appears to have made little impact in the House in 1714 but was appointed judge again as

Puisne Justice of Chester The Justice of Chester was the chief judicial authority for the county palatine of Chester, from the establishment of the county until the abolition of the Great Sessions in Wales and the palatine judicature in 1830. Within the County Palatine (w ...

, Denbigh, Flintshire and Monmouthshire which meant he had to stand for re-election in May. At the

1715 general election Events For dates within Great Britain and the British Empire, as well as in the Russian Empire, the "old style" Julian calendar was used in 1715, and can be converted to the "new style" Gregorian calendar (adopted in the British Empire i ...

he was again returned unopposed as MP for Droitwich, but with the change of Government became a leading speaker for the Tory opposition. He spoke against the septennial bill in 1716, the army in 1717, and the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts and the

Peerage Bill {{short description, Proposed British law of 1719 The Peerage Bill was a 1719 measure proposed by the British Whigs (British political party), Whig government led by James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope and Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland whic ...

in 1719. In 1720 he became a bencher of his Inn. He was elected to the South Sea committee in 1721. At the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

he was returned unopposed again as MP for Droitwich.

Death and legacy

Jeffries' love of country sports, particularly hunting, may have been a distraction from his professional ambitions. In 1725, he needed treatment to his foot after a hunting accident, but developed gangrene. He had his leg amputated before he died on 20 July 1725. He left no surviving children, and his estates went to his eldest brother

Salwey Winnington Salwey Winnington (28 August 1666 – 6 November 1736), of Stanford Court, Worcestershire, was an English landowner and Member of Parliament (MP). Winnington was the eldest son of Sir Francis Winnington, a lawyer and politician who was Solicitor ...

References

* *''Burkes Peerage and Baronetage'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffreys, Edward 1669 births 1725 deaths Members of the Middle Temple 18th-century Welsh judges Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Droitwich British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727