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The Jeffreys Family by Hogarth
[James Jeffreys is standing at the right. His parents are on the left.] |
In December 1747, six years after the death of Lord Augustus FitzRoy, his widow
Lady Elizabeth (née Cosby), re-married. It caused tongues to wag but not to the extent that it might have had she given in to the original suitor for her hand. The daughter of the governor of colonial New York first came to the attention of the ducal Fitzroy family of Grafton when Lord Augustus, the second of the three surviving sons of the Duke of Grafton, was a 17-year-old naval officer, on a stop in Fort George, New York City. He was entertained by Governor Cosby and his wife and showed interest their elder daughter Elizabeth, a beauty about a year older than him. Elizabeth's mother, Grace (née Montagu) Cosby, a sister of the earl of Halifax, who had grown up in London and was veteran of court and society, knew to seize an opportunity like this. It was all too rare that any of the peerage ventured to the colonies, and the son of a duke demonstrating an interest in her daughter could not pass by without an attempt to bring some permanence to the infatuation. Mrs. Cosby arranged for a parson to climb over the wall of the fort one night and wed the teenaged couple. The teenaged naval officer was happy enough with his pretty young bride, but when he returned to England with her, the old Duke of Grafton looked on his colonial daughter-in-law with much less fervour. It wasn't the passion he couldn't understand, for in his own younger days, the duke had taken many mistresses, and even fathered an acknowledged illegitimate son. But he also understood the importance of marriage from a financial standpoint, and it was not until he was in his fortieth year that the duke had settled on a wife: a well-connected lady of the peerage who brought a substantial financial dowry to their union. The Duke of Grafton no doubt hoped that all three of his sons would make similar marriages, and now the second one Lord Augustus has gone and married an unsuitable young lady from the colonies, half-Irish to boot.
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| Lord Augustus FitzRoy (1716-1741) |
Lady Elizabeth quickly bore her husband two sons, but a new family and a even a seat in Parliament was not enough to settle down the headstrong Lord Augustus FitzRoy, and soon he was carrying on a public affair with the wife of a politician, with whom he ran off. They were caught
in flagrante delicto at an inn near the harbour, and the lady's husband sued FitzRoy, obtaining £5,000 in damages and a divorce. It was this shocking behaviour on the part of Lord Augustus that finally brought his father the duke to acceptance of his daughter-in-law. Grafton promised Lady Elizabeth that as long as he lived, he would be kind to her and never let her and his two grandsons be in financial need.
Lord Augustus Fitzroy resumed his naval career and died of a tropical fever while serving in the West Indies in 1741. Five months later, his elder brother George FitzRoy, Earl of Euston, married a well-placed and wealthy lady of the peerage, the exact kind of union the heir to a dukedom should make. Sadly, the noble bride died mere months after the nuptials, and Lord Euston, who was a notorious brute, turned his attentions to his beautiful widowed sister-in-law Lady Elizabeth. Society was scandalized in 1742-43 when Euston actively pursued her hand. It was the final straw for the old Duke of Grafton, who disowned his eldest son in August 1743 over this and a long list of other offences. When Lord Euston died in disgrace in July 1747, not only was Lady Elizabeth's elder son Augustus the new heir to the dukedom of Grafton, but she was now independent enough from the FitzRoys to make her own re-marriage. Love once again triumphed over prudence when she chose for her second husband, a London gambler. "
I've told you already that Lady Augustus Fitzroy and Mr. Jeffreys, the gamester, were married," one society maven wrote in January 1748, "
at which some one was expressing his surprise in the presence of Lord Chesterfield, and saying they did not imagine it ever would have been a match."
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| Acton Hall, Wrexham, Denbighshire |
Most genealogies, including the Grafton article in
Burke's Peerage (2003 Edition) and the Cosby article in
Burke's Irish Family Records (1976), do not identify Elizabeth's second husband beyond his name,
James Jeffreys. A few other 19th-century sources mention he was Commissioner of Customs. He was in actuality the eldest of four children (three sons and a daughter) of the attorney John Jeffreys of Lincoln's Inn, a scion of the gentry family seated at Acton Hall outside Wrexham, Denbighshire. The family derived their name from Jeffrey ap Hugh, who occupied the Acton estate in the latter 16th-century, and whose son and heir John Jeffreys was a judge in North Wales on the Anglesey circuit. It was this Judge Jeffreys who first married into the Edward I bloodline when he took to wife Margaret, a daughter from the neighbouring gentry family Lloyd of Halghton Hall, also just outside Wrexham. The senior male line of the family became extinct in 1714, and Acton Hall was sold in 1747 (it was eventually demolished in 1954). The most prominent (and notorious) member of the family was Judge George Jeffreys (1645-1689), the great-uncle of Elizabeth's husband James Jeffreys. He was created 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem in 1685, and has
a bio in ODNB.
JAMES JEFFREYS of Westminster, Commissioner of Customs 1766-86,
b. 2 July 1715 (per M.I.);
d. 27 Sept. 1786 Avington House, Hampshire,
bur. 5 Oct. 1786 St Mary Church, Avington, est son of John Jeffreys of Lincoln's Inn (1689-1741, descended from Henry IV - see Generation A11 below) and Elizabeth Darrell (c.1693-1753);
m. (banns 18 Dec.) 1747, London,
ELIZABETH (COSBY) FITZROY,
b. c.1715;
d. 21 Dec. 1788 Cavendish Square, London, widow of Lord Augustus FitzRoy of Marylebone (1715-1741, descended from Charles II), and dau of William Cosby of Soho Square (c.1690-1736, descended from Edward III) and Grace Montagu (1687-1767, descended from Edward III), and had issue three daughters.
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| James Jeffreys' M.I. in St Mary Church, Avington |
Issue of James and Elizabeth (Cosby) (FitzRoy) Jeffreys:
1)
GRACE JEFFREYS,
b. 2 June 1749 Westminster,
bap. 29 June 1749 St Marylebone Parish Church;
d.s.p. 10 Aug. 1794,
bur. 14 Aug. 1794 St Mary Church, Melcombe Regis, Dorset;
m. 2 Jan. 1772, as his 1st wife, Sir RICHARD GAMON, 1st Baronet of Minchenden House,
b. 12 Aug. 1748;
d. 8 Apr. 1818 Hanover Square, London, only son of Richard Gamon of Datchworthbury (1715-1787) and Elizabeth Grace (1716-1779, descended from Edward I).
2)
ELIZABETH JEFFREYS, Maid of Honour to Queen Charlotte 1770-1802,
b. 30 July 1750 Westminster,
bap. 31 Aug. 1750 St Marylebone Parish Church;
d. unm. 13 Jan. 1802, bur. 26 Jan. 1802 St James Church, Westminster.
3)
LUCIA JEFFREYS,
b. 14 Jan. 1752 Westminster,
bap. 10 Feb. 1752 St Marylebone Parish Church;
d. unm. June 1837 Brighton, Sussex,
bur. 10 June 1837 St Nicholas Church, Brighton.
Through his father, James Jeffreys has a single illegitimate descent from Henry IV (Line A below). His paternal grandmother Margaret Wray, with her husband Rev. James Jeffreys, appears on
p. 551 of Ruvigny's
Clarence volume. The Marquis did not include James Jeffreys and his daughters, as he was only interested in living (in 1905) descendants of the couple. The descent from George, Duke of Clarence that Ruvigny traced is given in detail in Line B below.
Henry IV had a yst son,
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Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
- see Generation A1 |
A1)
Humphrey of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester (1390-1447) m. 2) Eleanor Cobham (c.1400-1452, possible mother), and had
A2)
Antigone of Lancaster, illegit. (b. c.1420) m. 1) Henry Gray, 2nd Count of Tancarville (1420-1450, descended from Edward I), and had
A3)
Elizabeth Gray (c.1439-aft.1495) m. Sir Roger Kynaston of Hordley (d. 1495), and had
A4)
Margaret Kynaston m. Sir Richard Hanmer of Hanmer Hall, and had
A5)
Sir Thomas Hanmer of Hanmer Hall (d. 1545) m. 1) Jane Brereton, and had
A6)
Ermine Hanmer m. William Lloyd of Halghton Hall, and had
A7)
William Lloyd of Halghton Hall m. Jane Broughton, and had
A8)
Margaret Lloyd m. 1) John Jeffreys of Acton Hall (c.1572-1622), and had
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| Jeffreys of Acton coat of arms |
A9)
JOHN JEFFREYS of Acton Hall,
b. 1608,
d. Apr. 1691;
m. by 1631, as her 2nd husband, MARGARET IRELAND,
b. 11 Apr. 1604 Bewsey Hall, Lancashire;
d. 9 May 1661,
bur. St. Elphin Church, Warrington, Lancashire, dau. of Sir Thomas Ireland of Bewsey Hall (1560-1625) and his 2nd wife Margaret Aston (d. 1615, descended from Edward I), and had
A10)
Rev. JAMES JEFFREYS, Prebendary of Canterbury 1682-89,
b. 1648 Acton Hall, Denbighshire, Wales;
d. 4 Sept. 1689 Canterbury, Kent,
bur. 6 Sept. 1689 Canterbury Cathedral;
m. 18 Apr. 1686, MARGARET WRAY (see B14 below), and had
A11)
JOHN JEFFREYS of Lincoln's Inn,
bap. 22 Aug. 1689 Canterbury Cathedral;
d. 20 July 1741 Lincoln's Inn, London;
m. 1711, ELIZABETH DARRELL,
b. c.1693;
d. 9 May 1753, est dau. of Edward Darrell of Putney, Surrey (c.1652-1720) and his 2nd wife Elizabeth Briscoe (c.1667-1746), and had
A12)
JAMES JEFFREYS of Westminster (c.1712-1786-see details above)
Edward III had a 2nd surv son
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3rd Duke of York -
see Generation B5 |
B1)
Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence (1338-1368) m. 1) Lady Elizabeth de Burgh (1332-1363, descended from Edward I), and had
B2)
Lady Philippa Plantagenet of Clarence (1355-1377) m. Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March (1352-1381), and had
B3)
Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March (1374-1398) m. Lady Alianore Holland (1370-1405, descended from Edward I), and had
B4)
Lady Anne Mortimer (1388-1411) m. Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (1385-1415, descended from Edward III), and had
B5)
Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (1411-1460) m. Lady Cecily Neville (1415-1495, descended from Edward III), and had
B6)
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence (1449-1478) m. Lady Isabel Neville (1451-1476, descended from Edward III), and had
B7)
Margaret Plantagenet, 3rd Countess of Salisbury (1473-1541) m. Sir Richard Pole of Medmenham (1459-1504), and had
B8)
Ursula Pole (c.1498-1570) m. Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford (1501-1563, descended from Edward III), and had
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Lady Elizabeth (née Stafford) Drury
- see Generation B10 |
B9)
DOROTHY STAFFORD,
b. 1 Oct. 1526;
d. 22 Sept. 1604 Westminster, London,
bur. 23 Sept. 1604 St Margaret Church, Westminster;
m. 1545, as his 2nd wife, Sir WILLIAM STAFFORD of Chebsey, Staffordshire,
b. c.1500;
d. 5 May 1566 Geneva, Switzerland, son of Sir Humphrey Stafford of Blatherwycke (1478-1545) and Margaret Fogge (d. by 1532), and had
B10)
ELIZABETH STAFFORD,
b. c.1549 (in her 49th year at death, per her M.I.);
d. 6 Feb. 1599,
bur. St Mary Church, Nettlestead, Kent;
m. 1st by 1574, Sir WILLIAM DRURY of Hawstead Hall, Suffolk,
b. 8 Mar. 1550;
d. 18 Jan. 1590 Bergen op Zoom, Brabant,
bur. 6 May 1593 All Saints Church, Hawstead, Suffolk, son of Robert Drury, Heir of Hawstead Hall (1525-1557, descended from Edward III) and Audrey Rich, and had
B11)
FRANCES DRURY,
b. 8 June 1576 Halstead Hall,
bap. 13 June 1576 All Saints Church, Hawstead;
d. 1637, bur. St Peter Church, Ashby cum Fenby, Lincolnshire;
m. 2nd 1600, as his 2nd wife, Sir WILLIAM WRAY, 1st Baronet of Glentworth,
b. c.1560;
d. 13 Aug. 1617 Ashby cum Fenby, son of Sir Christopher Wray of Glentworth Hall (1522-1592) and Anne Girlington (d. 1593, descended from Edward I), and had
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| Wray of Ashby coat of arms |
B12)
Sir CHRISTOPHER WRAY of Ashby,
b. Glentworth Hall, Lincolnshire,
bap. 11 May 1602 St Michael Church, Glentworth;
d. 6 Feb. 1646,
bur. St Giles in the Fields, London;
m. 3 Aug. 1623 St Mary Church, Wimbledon, Surrey, Hon. ALBINIA CECIL,
b. 1604;
bur. 30 Jan. 1660 St Giles in the Fields, London, dau. of Edward Cecil, Viscount Wimbledon (1572-1638, descended from Edward III) and his 1st wife Theodosia Noel (1584-1616, descended from Edward I), and had
B13)
Sir WILLIAM WRAY, 1st Baronet of Ashby,
b. c.1626;
d. 17 Oct. 1669,
bur. St Peter Church, Ashby cum Fenby;
m. c.1652, OLYMPIA TUFTON,
bap. 26 Jan. 1629 St Peter & St Paul Church, Lynsted, Kent;
d. Sept. 1680, dau. of Sir Humphrey Tufton, 1st Baronet of The Mote (1584-1659, descended from Edward III) and Margaret Morley (c.1596-1667, descended from Edward III), and had
B14)
MARGARET WRAY,
b. c.1660;
bur. 21 Sept. 1723 Canterbury Cathedral;
m. 18 Apr. 1686, Rev. JAMES JEFFREYS of Canterbury (see A10 above)
This is the first blogpost of the New Year! Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2016, a year hopefully chock full of genealogical discoveries.
Cheers, -------Brad
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