Edward Winnington or Jeffreys (8 October 1669 – 20 July 1725), of

Ham Castle Ham Castle (also known as Home or Homme Castle) is located in Worcestershire at the bottom of a wooded escarpment (and close to the River Teme), within the parish of Clifton-upon-Teme, about east of the village of Clifton-upon-Teme and south ...

, Droitwich, was an English lawyer, judge and Tory politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1708 to 1725. He was considered the most powerful advocate on the Oxford circuit of his time.

Early life

Jeffreys was born Winnington, a younger son of Sir Francis Winnington and his second wife Elizabeth Salway, daughter of Edward Salwey. He was admitted at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1687, and

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

on 18 May 1694. He married Jane Bloom, daughter of William Bloom of Altofts, Yorkshire, and the niece and heiress of Henry Jeffreys of

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, in about 1709. He took the name Edward Jeffreys to inherit the Jeffreys estates.

Career

Jeffreys was returned unopposed as Tory Member of Parliament for

Droitwich Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester. ...

at the 1708 general election. He voted against the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell. At the 1710 general election, he was returned unopposed again. He was listed as a ‘worthy patriot’ who helped to detect the mismanagements of the previous administration, and as a member of the

October Club The October Club was a group of Tory Members of Parliament, established after the 1710 general election. The Club was active until approximately 1714. The group took its name from the strong ale they reportedly drank.Pat Rogers, �October Club (' ...

. He was not very active in Parliament and appears to have been devoting time and effort as a practicing barrister. In 1711 he was made a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

and was appointed Puisne Justice of the Great Sessions for

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

Cardiganshire Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Ab ...

, and

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

. Within a year, he resigned his judgeship in favour of his brother in November 1712 and appears to have preferred to concentrate on his lucrative legal practice. He was dealing with several cases of great political importance. At the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election was held on 22 August 1713 to 12 November 1713, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 R ...

, he was returned unopposed again for Droitwich. He appears to have made little impact in the House in 1714 but was appointed judge again as

Puisne Justice of Chester The Justice of Chester was the chief judicial authority for the county palatine of Chester, from the establishment of the county until the abolition of the Great Sessions in Wales and the palatine judicature in 1830. Within the County Palatine ( ...

, Denbigh, Flintshire and Monmouthshire which meant he had to stand for re-election in May. At the 1715 general election he was again returned unopposed as MP for Droitwich, but with the change of Government became a leading speaker for the Tory opposition. He spoke against the septennial bill in 1716, the army in 1717, and the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts and the

Peerage Bill {{short description, Proposed British law of 1719 The Peerage Bill was a 1719 measure proposed by the British Whig government led by James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope, and Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, which would have largely halted th ...

in 1719. In 1720 he became a bencher of his Inn. He was elected to the South Sea committee in 1721. At the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

he was returned unopposed again as MP for Droitwich.

Death and legacy

Jeffries' love of country sports, particularly hunting, may have been a distraction from his professional ambitions. In 1725, he needed treatment to his foot after a hunting accident, but developed gangrene. He had his leg amputated before he died on 20 July 1725. He left no surviving children, and his estates went to his eldest brother Salwey Winnington.

References

* *''Burkes Peerage and Baronetage'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffreys, Edward 1669 births 1725 deaths Members of the Middle Temple 18th-century Welsh judges Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Droitwich British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...