Origin of the Name Jeffries
The ancient history of the name
Jeffries was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. Meaning 'the son of Geoffrey', Jeffries is a baptismal name. Variants include Jeffery, Jefferay, Jefferey, Jefferies, Jefferis, Jefferiss, Jefferys Jeffree, Jefreys, Jeffryes, Jeffrie and Jeffry. This name is of Anglo-Saxon descent spreading to the Celtic countries of Ireland , Scotland , and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout the above islands. Examples of such are a Rogerus Jeffray, who was recorded in the 'Poll Tax', of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England , in the Year 1379, and a Captayne William Jefferyes, who was buried at Saint James Clerkenwell, in the Year 1635.
In Ireland this name and its variants were introduced into Ulster Province by settlers who arrived from England and Scotland , especially during the seventeenth century. It was the 'Plantations of Ireland ' in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that marked the end of Gaelic supremacy in Ireland . While the influx of settlers in the wake of the earlier Anglo-Norman invasion of the twelfth century resulted in a full integration into Irish society of the new arrivals, the same never occurred with the Ulster Planters who maintained their own distinct identity.
Jeffreystown is located in County Westmeath.
The Jeffries coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Jeffries descendants.