John Cordy Jeaffreson

Author Code: EJCJ

Educated at Pembroke College, Oxford, Jeaffreson received his BA in 1852. After a few years teaching in London, he entered Lincoln's Inn in 1856. He was called to the bar in 1859, but did not practice law, deciding to become a writer a few years earlier. His first novel, Crewe Rise, had appeared in 1854 and its reasonable success convinced him to continue writing. He had begun writing for the Athenaeum in 1856 and produced numerous essays and literary criticisms. In 1871, Jeaffreson was invited by a long-time friend to become an archivist for the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts and, over the next decade, he reported on numerous collections including important work on Byron and Shelley. During these years he also continued to publish his books, much of the material gleaned from his archivist endeavors. His other works include Novels and Novelists from Elizabeth to Victoria (1858), A Book About Doctors (1860), A Book About Lawyers (1866), A Book About the Clergy (1870), Brides and Bridals (1872), Byron (1883), Shelley (1888), Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson (1888), The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson (1889) and his autobiography, A Book of Recollections (1894).