John Middleton Jeffreys

Wales,1831- 1890, Nagambie

John Middleton Jeffreys was born at The Mumbles, Wales, in 1831. He was the 4^th child and 3^rd son of a Royal Marines officer, Richard W Jeffreys. The family had a long and broad association with the Royal Marines and in other military service. The family also had great involvement in local politics and the professions of law and finance. On a number of occasions some member of the family was Portreeve (mayor) of the district and others held various municipal offices. One "uncle" was the renowned conchologist John Gwyn Jeffreys, whose shell collection is among the greatest in the world, and who participated as a pioneer deep-sea zoologist in this specialist field. Other "cousin/uncle" lines were associated with the establishment and building of the pioneering Mumbles Railway – one of the earliest in Britain, and the world.

John Middleton Jeffreys’ father fought in many campaigns in the Napoleonic Wars, usually as a Marine artillery officer. One noted occasion being the engagement at Bormasuna and another the Battle of Basque Roads – well documented in British Naval history and recalled with a painting at the British Naval Museum. He also spent time as a militia leader and earned some dubious notoriety during a working men’s uprising. His final military appointment was a Barracks Master at Portobello in Dublin. However his is another, exciting story to be told independently.

We understand that John came to Victoria in the late 1850’s although the specific details of his voyage have not been confirmed. Whether he came in search of gold as many did at this time, or for other reasons we do not know. It seems fairly certain however that he did not bring with him any of the apparent "mid-to-upper echelon" society background in which he appeared to have grown up. He was, and/or became one of that numerous class of ‘ag labs’.

Surprisingly his youngest sister, Janetta, was to come to Australia a few years later in quite different circumstances. She was married in Ireland (during her father’s term as Barracks Master) , to a young, enterprising and rapidly rising young lawyer, Alfred McFarland. He was appointed as first judge of the West Australian judiciary. He then moved to New South Wales where he practised as a notable solicitor and where he lectured and wrote a number of historical and legal works. He was appointed as circuit judge for the Illawarra district. Three of Janetta Jeffreys/McFarland’s daughters were to marry senior Australian army officers, Ryrie, Bruche and Jobson. But again, that is another story.

We do not know if any other members of the family came to Australia.

John settled first at Avenel, just a short distance from Seymour, north of Melbourne. Little detail has been found of his life. He married a Margaret Broughton from South Australia, and they had 12 children. The family moved from town to town during their time in the district, to Wormangal, Longwood, Burnt Creek and others – some now erased from official memory. We know that John died in 1890 at Nagambie, some distance north, and that his grave is unmarked. There is little else discovered about him. Some of his sons served in the Victorian and Australian contingents in the Boer War and World War One -none with the distinction of their cousin-in-law, (Sir) Granville Ryrie who was one of the most notable Australian officers of the time.

I have often wondered how it could be that a brother and sister could each come to Australia at much the same time, yet in such different circumstances and to live such diverse lives. Whether John had in some way been ‘outcast’ from his Welsh family or simply came with little financial support as a younger son, and Janetta simply ‘fell’ into fortunate circumstances, we will probably never know.

There is much to be told of John Middleton Jeffreys’ relatives, ancestors and descendants and I hope this will be done soon, in other places.

Much of the life of Mary McFarland(Jeffreys) can be found in the book "My Darling Mick" – a recent biographical study of the military and political career of Granville Ryrie. No mention is made of the Welsh background or of the "poor relations" on country Victoria.