Arthur Frederick Jeffreys (7 April 1848 – 14 February 1906) was an English first-class

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician. He served as the Member of Parliament for

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

from 1887 until his death in 1906. As a cricketer, he made 26 appearances in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

, mostly for the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

, though he also played for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and in Australia for

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Early life and cricket

Jeffreys was the son of Arthur Jeffreys, a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

, who had emigrated to the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

in 1839. He was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in April 1848, and later matriculated to study in England at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

; there he studied mathematics, graduating in 1870. He excelled for Christ Church in cricket and athletics, but did not represent

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. A student of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

, he was

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 ...

in January 1872, allowing him to practice on the

Western Circuit Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to: * Courts that literally sit 'on circuit', i.e., judges move around a region or country to different towns or cities where they will hear cases; * Courts that s ...

; however, he would not practice as a barrister. In the same year that he was called to the bar, he made his debut in first-class cricket for the

(MCC) against Oxford University at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in 1872, with Jeffreys making three further appearances for the MCC in 1872. In the winter which followed, Jeffreys returned to New South Wales. There he made a first-class appearance for the

New South Wales cricket team The New South Wales cricket team (formerly nicknamed NSW Blues) are an Australian men's professional first class cricket team based in the Australian state ofNew South Wales. The team competes in the Australian first class cricket competition ...

against Victoria at

in February 1873. Returning to England, he resumed playing first-class cricket for the MCC from 1875, and in 1876 he began playing first-class cricket for

. He played first-class cricket until 1879, having made fifteen appearances for the MCC and ten for Hampshire. For the MCC, he scored 377 runs at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 17.13, making two half centuries with a highest score of 60. For Hampshire, he scored 203 runs at an average of 11.94, making one half century score of 51. '' Scores and Biographies'' (1879) noted that Jeffreys fielded mostly at cover-point.

Political career and death

Jeffreys purchased the Burkham House estate near

Alton, Hampshire Alton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in East Hampshire, England, near the source of the northern branch of the River Wey. It had a population of 19,425 at the 2021 census. Alton was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as ''Aoltone' ...

, in 1881 or 1882. Already a justice of the peace for Hampshire, He was elected a Member of Parliament (MP) to 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 ...

for

in July 1887, having successfully contested the Basingstoke by-election for the Conservative Party, defeating the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

candidate

Richard Eve Richard Eve Royal Geographical Society, FRGS (6 December 1831–7 July 1900) was a solicitor and notary in Aldershot in Hampshire in the 19th century and a prominent Freemasonry, Freemason who was the Grand Treasurer of the United Grand Lodg ...

by 732 votes (13.2%). In the 1892 general election, he extended his majority to 1,491 votes (22.6%), while in the

1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...

and 1900 general elections he ran unopposed. Jeffreys was a warm supporter of agriculture and the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, being known during his parliamentary service for his non-partisan conduct. He was sworn a member of the Imperial Privy Council on 11 August 1902, following an announcement of the King's intention to make this appointment in the

1902 Coronation Honours The 1902 Coronation Honours were announced on 26 June 1902, the date originally set for the coronation of King Edward VII. The coronation was postponed because the King had been taken ill two days before, but he ordered that the honours list shou ...

. He served briefly under

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As Foreign Secretary ...

as Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board from June to December 1905, obtaining the position upon James Lowther's election to

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

. He contested the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting e ...

, defeating the Liberal Harry Verney by a vastly reduced majority of 120 votes (1.2%). Alongside his parliamentary career, Jeffreys served as a deputy lieutenant for Hampshire in 1890, and was also a councillor on

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hampshire in England. The council was created in 1889. The county council provides county-level services to eleven of the thirteen districts geo ...

. After presiding over a sitting of the

licensing committee in February 1906, Jeffreys suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. He died a week later on 14 February at his Burkham House residence. He was subsequently succeeded as MP for Basingstoke by Arthur Salter in the by-election which followed his death. His funeral took place at St Mary's Church in Bentworth on 17 February. Jeffreys was survived by his wife, Amy Constantia Fenwick, whom he had married in 1877; the couple had three daughters and a son. Their son George became a prominent military commander and was elevated to the peerage as Baron Jeffreys in 1952.

References

External links

* *
Parliamentary Archives, Diary of Rt. Hon. Arthur Frederick Jeffreys MP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffreys, Arthur Frederick 1848 births 1906 deaths Cricketers from Sydney Politicians from Sydney Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers New South Wales cricketers Hampshire cricketers British sportsperson-politicians Members of Hampshire County Council English justices of the peace Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 Deputy lieutenants of Hampshire UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1900–1906 Burials in Hampshire