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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Judge Jeffreys
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(George Jeffreys, c.1645–89, kt 1677, baron 1685) Lawyer whose evil reputation derives from the Bloody Assizes of 1685. A career of rapid success (lord chief justice at 38, lord chancellor at 41) was largely the result of vigorous legal activity in the royal interest. It was in this role that he went in 1685 to the west of England, where *Monmouth's support had been strongest in the recent rebellion against *James II.
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In a succession of assizes in different towns Jeffreys condemned about 200 people to death and many more to transportation. Justice tended then to be brutal, and his notoriety can be partly explained by *Hanoverian historians making the most of this final fling of *Stuart despotism. After James II's flight to France, Jeffreys disguised himself as a sailor to make his own escape, but was recognized and arrested in Wapping. He died in the Tower before being brought to trial.
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