John Jeffrey ka John Jefferay(ca. 1524 – 13 May 1578), of

Chiddingly Chiddingly ( ) is an English village and civil parish in the Wealden District of the administrative county of East Sussex, within historic Sussex, some five miles (8 km) northwest of Hailsham. The parish is rural in character: it inc ...

, Sussex, was an English politician. He was a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

(MP) of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

for

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

in 1563,

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

in 1571 and

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

in 1572.

Life

He was son of Richard Jeffrey of Chiddingly Manor, by Eliza, daughter of Robert Whitfield of

Wadhurst Wadhurst is a market town in East Sussex, England. It is the centre of the civil parish of Wadhurst, which also includes the hamlets of Cousley Wood and Tidebrook. Wadhurst is twinned with Aubers in France. Situation Wadhurst is situated on ...

. He was admitted a member of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1544, called to the bar in 1546, and was Lent reader there in 1561. In Easter term 1567 Jeffrey became a

serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writ ...

, and on 15 October 1572 a

queen's serjeant A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the Barristers in England and Wales, English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, ...

. On 15 May 1576 he was appointed a judge of the

queen's bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of common ...

, and was promoted on 12 October 1577 to succeed

Sir Robert Bell Sir Robert Bell Serjeant-at-law, SL (died 1577) of Beaupré Hall, Norfolk, was a Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons (1572–1576), who served during the reign of Elizabeth I of England, Queen Eliza ...

as chief baron of the exchequer. In the autumn of 1578 he died at Coleman Street Ward, London, and was buried under a magnificent tomb in Chiddingly Church.

Family

Jeffrey was twice married, first to Alice, daughter and heiress of John Apsley, by whom he had one daughter, Elizabeth, who married

Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton Order of the Bath, KB (AKA Sir Edward Montague of Boughton Castle) (c. 1562 – 15 June 1644) was an English politician. Life Montagu was the son of Edward Montagu of Boughton, Sir Edward Mont ...

; and secondly to Mary, daughter of George Goring.

References

;Attribution 1520s births 1578 deaths People from Chiddingly English MPs 1563–1567 English MPs 1571 English MPs 1572–1583 Serjeants-at-law (England) 16th-century English lawyers {{1563-England-MP-stub