John Jefferys (1701 – 1754) was an English clockmaker and watchmaker. His parents, John and Jane Jefferys lived in a house called ''Darbies'' in the village of

Midgham Midgham is a village and civil parish occupying slopes and the flood plain on the north side of the River Kennet. It is centred east of Newbury and east of Thatcham. The north of the parish is south of the M4 motorway. Midgham Lock is on t ...

in the parish of

Thatcham Thatcham is an historic market town and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, centred 3 miles (5 km) east of Newbury, 14 miles (24 km) west of Reading and 54 miles (87 km) west of London. Geography Thatcham straddles ...

in Berkshire. His father was a wool merchant. His maternal grandparents were William and Bridgett Yeats. He had at least five brothers and one sister. Although his father was a Quaker, he was christened on 18 March 1701. On 4 November 1717 he began an apprenticeship with watchmaker

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

at Well Close Square,

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

, London. After nine years of teaching on 26 January 1726 he became a member of the Clockmakers Company of London. In 1735

Larcum Kendall Larcum Kendall (21 September 1719 in Charlbury, Oxfordshire – 22 November 1790 in London) was a British watchmaker. Early life Kendall was born on 21 September 1719 in Charlbury. His father was a mercer and linen draper named Moses K ...

was a new apprentice. Around 1753 he built a pocketwatch for watchmaker

John Harrison John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of calculating longitude while at sea. Harrison's solution revo ...

. After he died

took over his workshop.

In popular media

Actor

Peter-Hugo Daly Peter-Hugo Daly (born 1956 in Islington, London) is an actor and musician. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was a member of new wave band the Cross along with fellow actor Phil Daniels. The band released a 1979 single, "Kill Another Night", ...

was cast as John Jefferys in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

TV series, ''

Longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek let ...

'' in 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferys, John 1701 births 1754 deaths People from Thatcham 18th-century English people English clockmakers English watchmakers (people) Place of death missing