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Nathaniel Jefferys

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Nathaniel Jefferys(1758? – 3 March 1810) was a London jeweller who wasMember of ParliamentforCoventryfrom 1796 to 1803.[1]

Family and early career[edit]

Jefferys was the son of Nathaniel Jefferys (died 1786) and his wife Elizabeth.[1]His father and uncle weregoldsmiths,and in 1783, the younger Nathaniel set up in business and became jeweller to members of theroyal familyandcourtiers.[1]About the same time, he married Mary, daughter of rich merchant William Knowlys and sister of John andNewman Knowlys.[1][2]The couple lived richly, with atownhouseinPall Malland a seaside villa byBenjamin Bond-HopkinsnearRamsgate.[1]They had several daughters and one son,[1]Nathaniel Newman Jefferys (1788–1873), later ofChepstowandSouthamptonand in 1817 aMasterextraordinary in theCourt of Chancery.[3]In 1846, John Knowlys bequeathed Nathaniel Newman Jefferys a lump sum of £5000 and Nathaniel's sister Mary £200 a year.[4]

Parliament and later career[edit]

William Wilberforce Birdinvited Jefferys to stand alongside him in Coventry at the1796 general election,and both were elected.[1][5]In Parliament, Jefferys supported thePrince of Wales(his leading customer, the futureGeorge IV) against thePitt ministry.[1]In 1797 he wentbankruptthough his customers' failure to pay their bills; a subsequent attempt to restart with his father-in-law's support was unsuccessful.[1]He lost Bird's support, but received that of Coventrycorporationand narrowly held his seat atthe 1802 election,ahead of Bird and his new protégéPeter Moore.[5]Moore'selection petitionresulted in Jefferys' unseating on 11 March 1803, when the Commons decided that he did not meet the property qualification under theParliament Act 1710,the land purportedlyconveyedto him by William Bryant shortly before the election having been sold by Bryant some years previously.[1][5][6]In 1806 he went bankrupt again, shortly after publishing a pamphlet attacking the Prince of Wales, whom he blamed for his debts and political failure.[1][7]The Prince's defenders countered that Jefferys had gained other customers through his royal connection, and overcharged his clients.[7][8]He subsequently worked as anestate agentand wrotetravel guides.[1]

References[edit]

Publications[edit]

  • Bird, William Wilberforce; Jefferys, Nathaniel (1796).To the Worthy, Independent Freemen, of the City of Coventry. Gentlemen, with Every Feeling of Gratitude for Your Firm and Manly Support... by Electing Us Your Representatives in Parliament.
  • Jefferys, Nathaniel (1806).A Review of the Conduct of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in His Various Transactions with Mr. Jefferys, During a Period of More Than Twenty Years, Containing a Detail of Many Circumstances Relative to Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, Mrs. Fitzherbert, &c. &c. &c; To which is added a Letter to Mrs. Fitzherbert upon the Influence of her Example, &c(8th ed.). J.H. Hart (printer).Retrieved12 December2019.
  • Jefferys, Nathaniel (1806).A refutation of the positive falsehoods and gross misrepresentations contained in the several publications professing to be in reply to the Review of the conduct of the Prince of Wales: with observations. To which is added the Report of the proceedings upon the trial beforeLord Kenyon,in 1796, for the recovery of the money due to Mr. Jefferys for jewels and plate sold to the Prince of Wales.J.H. Hart (printer).
  • Jefferys, Nathaniel (1809).A Descriptive and Historical Account of the Isle of Man.Preston and Heaton (printers).Retrieved12 December2019.
  • Jefferys, Nathaniel (1810).An Englishman's descriptive account of Dublin,: and the road from Bangor Ferry, to Holy Head. Also of the road from Dublin, by Belfast, to Donaghadee, and from Portpatick to Newcastle upon Tyne.London: Cadell and Davies.Retrieved12 December2019.

Citations[edit]

  1. ^abcdefghijklThorne, R. G. (1986)."Jefferys, Nathaniel (?1758–1810)".In R. Thorne (ed.).The History of Parliament.Vol. The House of Commons 1790–1820. Boydell and Brewer.Retrieved12 December2019.
  2. ^Mayo, Charles Herbert(1882).A genealogical account of the Mayo and Elton families of the counties of Wilts and Hereford.London: C. Whittingham. pp.143-144.Retrieved12 December2019.
  3. ^Bulletins and Other State Intelligence.Westminster: R. G. Clarke. 1817. p. 162.Retrieved12 December2019.
  4. ^"Additions to Obituary".The Gentleman's Magazine.ns XXVI. London: John Bowyer Nichols: 661. December 1846.Retrieved12 December2019.
  5. ^abcThorne, R. G. (1986)."Coventry".In R. Thorne (ed.).The History of Parliament.Vol. The House of Commons 1790–1820. Boydell and Brewer.Retrieved12 December2019.
  6. ^Barlow, Francis William (1803).The whole of the evidence given on the trial of the petition of William Wilberforce Bird and Peter Moore: against the return of Capt. Barlow and Nathaniel Jefferys, at the last general election.Coventry: J. Turner. pp. 1–22, 515.Retrieved12 December2019– via Warwick Digital Collections.
  7. ^abMulvihill, James (September 2004). "Publicizing royal scandal: Nathaniel Jefferys and the" delicate investigation "(1806)".Nineteenth-Century Contexts.26(3): 237–256.doi:10.1080/0890549042000280793.S2CID159563255.
  8. ^Morris, Marilyn (21 December 2012). "Princely Debt, Public Credit, and Commercial Values in Late Georgian Britain".Journal of British Studies.43(3): 339–365: 362.doi:10.1086/383599.JSTOR383599.S2CID145614284.
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