Jeffries, George, 1st Baron Jeffries of Wem

Early years. Career start

George Jeffries was born May 15, 1645 near Wrexham in Acton Park. Acton Park, as some researchers note, has long been the habitat of Jeffries. He was the sixth son of Welsh gentry John Jeffries ^[3] and Margaret Island, the daughter of a prominent Lancashire publisher. According to the recollections of Philip Henry, a dissident and friend of the future judge’s mother, Mrs. Jeffries was a pious woman who did everything possible to give her children a good upbringing, so Irving, the author of the biography of Baron Jeffries, suggests that Jeffries themselves were dissidents . It is possible that strict religious upbringing was the cause of the hatred of this activist for non-conformists , which he showed in the future. It is known that the grandfather of the future ^{[comm. 1] the} Lord Chancellor has been a judge for a long time. Jeffries had four children. John Jeffries, the eldest child, became county sheriff, Thomas Jeffries became consul, and James became prebendary . The three older brothers, like their parents, were successful and pious.

Initially, he studied at Shrewsbury School, then at the preparatory school for the gentry. The mother of the future statesman, who made every effort to ensure that her children received a good education, asked Philip Henry to check the knowledge of his youngest son. After the exam, Henry noted that the child is quite erudite. In 1655, he became a student at the London School of St. Paul, when she was led by Dr. Krumlum Kromleholm, "arrogant dogma Krumlum." At this school, Jeffries did well in Latin and Ancient Greek . Here he, according to Humphrey Vurvich, decided to become a lawyer . In 1661 he was forced to transfer to Westminster School, whose director was the "terrible" Busby. The father of this ambitious young man, it is worth saying, was against his son’s intention to become a lawyer, because he could not provide adequate funding. Thanks only to her grandmother, who agreed to pay "dear grandson £ 40 a month, the latter managed to become a student at Cambridge University .

In the years 1662-1663, Jeffries studied law at Trinity College ^[5] . However, after one year of study at this institution, he was forced to leave him because of financial difficulties and begin legal practice. He became a member of Inner Temple , a law school. Little is known about the five years he spent at Internal Temple, although there is inaccurate evidence that George Jeffries was addicted to alcohol. Roger North, a contemporary of this man, wrote that "his beginnings in the corporation were small." Jeffries' career began in 1668. This year he was appointed to the post of official of the municipality ^[6] . For a long time he collaborated with the London City Corporation ^[1] , thanks to which the young lawyer in 1678 became a judge .

During the reign of Charles II, Jeffries participated in the trials of the so-called " papistists " as a judge. Despite his impressive career advancement, King George Jeffries was not the king's favorite. In particular, the monarch has repeatedly spoken about Judge Jeffries in a negative way ^{[comm. 2]} . In 1683, this judge became a member of the Privy Council ^[7] and supreme judge of England and Wales ^[8] .

Bloody Assets

When the Duke of York ascended the throne, George Jeffries became an even more powerful person. The king appointed the famous judge as Lord Chancellor . From this moment, this figure began to exert a huge influence on the policy pursued by the government ^[9] . From the Crown, he received the title of Baron Jeffries of Wales ^[10] . According to the vig historian Macaulay , Jeffries, who was at the top of the political Olympus, was not happy, realizing that his health was steadily deteriorating ^[11] .

After the suppression of the uprising of Monmouth , a special commission was created, which adjudicated the rebels ^[12] . A series of lawsuits during which many people were sentenced to death are usually referred to in the historiography as “bloody assises” ^{[comm. 3] [comm. 4] [13]} . The first court hearing was held on August 25, 1685 in Winchester . Subsequently, similar courts took place in West Country and Wales ^[14] . As a result, 320 rebels were executed. More than five hundred were exiled to the West Indies plantations as slaves. ^[15]

The court's decisions caused dissatisfaction among all segments of the country's population. Therefore, some researchers, such as Macaulay, believe that the "bloody assise" only accelerated the fall of King Jacob .

In 1687, King James II appointed Baron Jeffries as Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire , representative of the monarch’s authority in the region. .

End of career and death

After the overthrow of Jacob II in 1688, Lord George Jeffries, fearing general discontent, tried to escape to France , but was captured ^[16] . The former judge was put in the Tower ^[14] , where he died of a painful disease on April 18, 1689 . The cause of death of the baron is still not precisely established. It is assumed that the death of Lord Jeffries occurred as a result of exacerbated inflammation in the kidneys ^[17] .

Jeffries's personality is not unambiguous. Most contemporaries did not approve of his activity as a judge because of the extremely unceremonious, sometimes even too harsh attitude to the accused. However, there is an opinion that the cruelty of the judge, although it took place, is greatly exaggerated ^[18] .

Macaulay Thomas Babington , an English historian and statesman, in his History of England gives an extremely negative assessment of the activities of Lord Jeffries. Macaulay, describing the character of the “hanging judge,” notes that he was “a man of quick and energetic mind.” According to this historian, Jeffries also had many negative character traits: he mentions that the judge often behaved defiantly, and this person repeatedly insulted the defendants. Thomas Macaulay believed that the ferocity of the judge prevented him from making adequate decisions on critical issues. Macaulay, including being a poet and prose writer, describes in detail the appearance of the aforementioned judge ^[19] .

Macaulay’s assessment is largely biased, since in his writings he repeatedly declares the superiority of the Whigist ideology over Torism ^{[comm. five]} .

On May 23, 1667, George Jeffries married Sarah Niche. Contemporaries considered this marriage a misalliance ^[20] , since Madame Nishem was the daughter of priest Thomas Nishem. In marriage, seven children were born. One of them, John Jeffries , inherited the title of father after his death. In 1678, the wife of Jeffries died .

In 1679, the famous judge for the second time married the daughter of the London Lord Mayor Anne Bloodworth ^[2] .

• Appears in the historical novel by Richard Dodridge Blackmore “Lorna Dun” (1869), at the end of which he becomes the guardian of the main character and contributes to her marriage with John Ridd.
• He is one of the secondary characters in the novel by Rafael Sabatini " Odyssey of Captain Blood " (1922), which describes him as a cruel and unceremonious executioner. Describing the trial of the rebels, Sabatini notes that Jeffries had constant outbursts of anger. A medical doctor by training, Blood, whom the author endowed with a sharp mind, realizes that Lord Jeffries is mortally ill. Jeffries condemns Blood to death, but against the judge’s will, the sentence has to be commuted, and Blood is exiled to the West Indies as a slave. ^[21]
• Described as a classmate and detractor of one of the main characters of the first novel "Mercury" (2003) of the "Baroque cycle" of Neil Stevenson - Daniel Waterhouse. After an unsuccessful attempt to kill Daniel and the ensuing Glorious Revolution (1688), Jeffries tries to escape, but it is Daniel who exposes him.

Comments

Sources

• Haydn JT , Beatson R. The Lord High Chancellors // Beatson's Political index modernized. The book of dignities; containing rolls of the official personages of the British empire, together with the sovereigns of Europe, the peerage of England and of Great Britain; and numerous other lists. - 1851. - 624 p.
• Irving HB The life of Judge Jeffreys. - London: William Heinemann, 1898 .-- S. 380.
• Macaulay T. B. Complete Works. T.06. History of England. - Part 1. - St. Petersburg. : Printing house of M.O. Wolf, 1866. - S. 384.
• Macaulay T. B. Complete Works. T.07. History of England. - Part 1. - St. Petersburg. : Printing house of M.O. Wolf, 1868 .-- S. 386.