Ward's Book of Days. Pages of interesting anniversaries. What
happened on this day in history. On this day in history in 1689,
died George Jeffreys. Jeffreys, known as the ‘hanging judge’,
was a lawyer notorious for his sycophancy, brutality and
corruption. Jeffreys was born in Wrexham, Clwyd, into the Welsh
gentry. He was educated at Westminster School, and at Trinity
College, Cambridge and was called to the bar in 1668. During the
panic that ensued after the ‘Popish Plot’, an alleged conspiracy
against the king, Jeffreys was leading prosecuting council in
many of the trials of suspects. Despite flimsy evidence,
Jeffreys often obtained convictions by ridiculing defendants and
introducing suspect evidence. He drew the attention of James
Duke of York, later James II, brother of Charles II, and
declared to him that he would take any measures necessary to
assist the king and his brother. Jeffreys quickly rose through
the ranks of the judiciary. He became first a knight and a judge
of the King’s Bench, then a bar