John Jeffreys (1706 – 30 January 1766) of The Priory, Brecon, and Sheen, Surrey, was a Welsh 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 1734 to 1766. He lost a fortune gambling but was awarded lucrative public positions under successive Administrations. Jeffreys was the eldest son of John Jeffreys, MP and his wife Elizabeth Sturt, daughter of

Anthony Sturt Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

, MP of London.Pages 402 to 406, ''

The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III ''The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' was a book written by Lewis Namier. At the time of its first publication in 1929 it caused a historiographical revolution in understanding the 18th century by challenging the Whig view ...

'' (2nd edition – London: St Martin's Press, 1957) His father and his uncle, Sir Jeffrey Jeffreys were wealthy tobacco merchants. He was a member of

White's Club White's is a gentlemen's club in St James's, London. Founded in 1693 as a hot chocolate shop in Mayfair, it is the oldest gentleman's club in London. It moved to its current premises on St James's Street in 1778. Status White's is the oldes ...

and succeeded his father in 1715 but was a gamester who soon ran through his fortune. Jeffreys contested

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...

at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

, but was unsuccessful. He was returned as

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

Breconshire , image_flag= , HQ= Brecon , Government= Brecknockshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= Brycheiniog , Status= , Start= 1535 , End= ...

by a small majority at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

. He began his career in opposition, and became an adherent of Pulteney. He was returned unopposed at the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

. After the fall of Walpole in 1742, Pulteney made him Joint

Secretary to the Treasury In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure ...

, worth about £5,000 p.a. at the time.

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

described the appointment as White's contribution to the Government. Jeffreys was the only friend of Pulteney who was not turned out of office at the end of 1744. It was said that he was inefficient and incapable of carrying on the business of the Treasury and that almost everybody in the House of Commons wondered what public reason could be given for keeping him in post. Pelham, who was a fellow member of White's, replied that Jeffreys was a good retired inoffensive creature, and the public had no interest in his appointment, so he was not going to react to the resentment of others. However, in 1746 Pelham wanted to ensure a competent replacement for the octogenarian Secretary to the Treasury, and Jeffreys resigned from his position in May 1746, taking an anuual payment of £1,000 p.a. in compensation. At the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw Henr ...

Jeffreys was returned unopposed as MP for Dartmouth. In due course he was appointed secretary to the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

in 1752 and stayed in post until 1754. He was returned unopposed again at the

1754 British general election The 1754 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 11th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Owing to the exten ...

and was appointed

Warden of the Mint Warden of the Mint was a high-ranking position at the Royal Mint in England from 1216 to 1829. The warden was responsible for a variety of minting procedures and acted as the immediate representative of the current monarch inside the mint. The role ...

in 1754. In 1757 he was appointed deputy ranger of St James's and Hyde Parks. He was returned for Dartmouth unopposed again at the

1761 British general election The 1761 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. This was the first P ...

and in 1761 he was given a regular secret service pension of £500 p.a. He continued to support and be financially supported by successive Governments. Jeffreys died unmarried on 30 January 1766.

References

1706 births 1766 deaths People from Brecon Welsh politicians Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dartmouth British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub