John Jeffreyson

He was born in Durham, son of John Jeffreyson, a mercer, and Margaret Walton, daughter of Hugh Walton, an alderman of the city. He went to school in Guisborough and matriculated from St John's College, Cambridge in 1652. ==Career ==

He entered Gray's Inn in 1651 and was called to the Bar in 1661. and a close friend of the noted loyalist cleric Thomas Cartwight, Bishop of Chester, but after the Glorious Revolution, unlike Bishop Cartwright, he did not follow King James II into exile. ==Judge in Ireland ==

His career was not permanently damaged by the Glorious Revolution. Perhaps surprisingly, given his record of loyalty to the previous regime, he was sent to Ireland as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) in 1690: presumably, his experience and legal ability were thought to outweigh his Tory opinions, although this tolerant attitude did not last. He joined the King's Inn and was knighted in 1692. He was made a member of the Privy Council of Ireland in 1693. His political views inevitably led to conflict at a time when the Irish Bench was riven with political differences: he was removed from the Privy Council in 1695 but restored to his place on it in 1697. He acted as Commissioner of the Great Seal of Ireland 1696–7. As was customary then for High Court judges he attended the Irish House of Lords to act as their legal adviser. ==Death and family ==

He died in 1700 and was buried in St. Peter's Church, Aungier Street, Dublin (which was demolished in 1983). Elrington Ball described Jeffreyson as a fine lawyer, but a Tory above all. ==References==