James St John Jeffereyes (1734 – 14 September 1780), also recorded as St John Jeffreys, was an Anglo-Irish soldier, landowner and politician.
Biography
Jeffereyes was the son of the diplomat James Jeffreys and Anne Brodrick, and the grandson of Sir James Jeffreys and St John Brodrick. He entered Trinity College Dublin on 12 February 1752, but did not graduate and instead joined the British Army. By 1766 he had attained the rank of major in the 24th Regiment of Foot and he served as Lieutenant-Governor of Cork from 1768 to 1769.
Between 1758 and 1776, Jeffereyes sat in the Irish House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Midleton, before representing Randalstown from 1776 until his death in 1780. In Parliament, Jeffereyes was an opponent of Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Shannon, the local magnate. In 1778 Jeffreys supported the popery bill granting Irish Roman Catholics greater property rights; Shannon opposed it.
Jeffereyes was noted for his work as a reforming landlord on his Blarney Castle estate. During the 1760s and 1770s he spent over £8,000 as loans to manufacturers or in building premises on the estate which he then leased out to encourage economic activity. He invested in improvement works, including housing for workers and water power for local industry. He granted favourable leases to residents and encouraged textile printers to come from Dublin to set up in his village; the thirteen factories on his estate in 1776 included a linen tape factory, a tuck mill, and a leather works.
He married Arabella Fitzgibbon, sister of John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare. They had one son, George, and four daughters, including Mary Anne, whose first marriage to George Nugent, 7th Earl of Westmeath ended in a scandalous divorce in 1796.
References
- "Alumni Dublinenses: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593–1860) George Dames Burtchaell/Thomas Ulick Sadleir p436: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935
- Lunney, Linde, Jeffereyes (Jeffereys, Jeffries, Jeffreys), (James) St John, Dictionary of Irish Biography (October 2009). Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- E. M. Johnston-Liik, MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800 (Ulster Historical Foundation, 2006), p.98. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- "Estate Record: Jefferyes". landedestates.nuigalway.ie. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- Lunney, Linde, Jeffereyes (Jeffereys, Jeffries, Jeffreys), (James) St John, Dictionary of Irish Biography (October 2009). Retrieved 25 January 2023.
| Parliament of Ireland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byWilliam Annesley James Hamilton |
Member of Parliament for Midleton 1758–1776 With: William Annesley (1758–1759) Francis Andrews (1759–1761) Thomas Brodrick (1761–1768) Edward Brodrick (1768–1776) |
Succeeded byThomas Brodrick Henry Brodrick |
| Preceded bySt John O'Neill John O'Neill |
Member of Parliament for Randalstown 1776–1780 With: John O'Neill |
Succeeded byLord Rawdon John O'Neill |
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- 1734 births
- 1780 deaths
- 18th-century Anglo-Irish people
- Irish MPs 1727–1760
- Irish MPs 1761–1768
- Irish MPs 1769–1776
- Irish MPs 1776–1783
- Irish philanthropists
- Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Antrim constituencies
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- 18th-century Irish landowners
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