George H. E. Jeffery

George H. E. Jeffery
Born1855 (1855)
Died1935 (aged 79–80)
OccupationsCurator, antiquarian
SpouseHelen Jane Luxmore

George Henry Everett Jeffery, FSA (1855–1935) was the Curator of Ancient Monuments in the Department of Antiquities from 1903 until his death in 1935.[1] He is known for his personal research and interest in the monuments of Cyprus.[2]He supervised the construction of the Cyprus Museum from 1908.

Career

Among his publications is the authoritative Description of the Historical Monuments of Cyprus, published in 1918 in the Government Printing Office and a second edition was published in 1983.[3] This work focuses on the Byzantine and especially the Medieval monuments in the cities and villages of the island. Additionally, the work includes architectural plans of the monuments, made by Jeffery himself, and a few pictures.[2]

More recently Jeffery's diaries have been studied and published by Despina Pilides.[4][5]

Prior to his activities as Curator of Ancient Monuments in Cyprus, his main occupation was Architect. He trained from 1870 to 1874 at the S & A Department (forerunner of the Royal College of Art) in Kensington, London on a scholarship, followed from 1874 to 1881 by the Royal Academy of Arts. By his own account he travelled widely in Britain and abroad, including in the Middle East. In 1892 whilst living in Florence, Italy he was admitted as Fellow to the Royal Institute of British Architects.[6]

Jeffery records in his application the offices that he had worked in and having worked on minor projects in practice in London, then from 1886 on alterations to the St. Mark's English Church in Florence, the St Augustine of Canterbury English Church in Wiesbaden, and the Christ Church in Bad (Langen-) Schwalbach, both in Germany.

In Wiesbaden 1890-1891 he was commissioned by a prominent congregation member and church warden Christopher Benson, the elder brother of the then-Archbishop of Canterbury to produce 2 paintings, a reredos screen for the chancel and stencilled wall decorations in a style reminiscent of George Bodley's work. Of Jeffery's works, only one of the paintings, that depicting St. Augustine, survived a catastrophic fire at the church in 1966, but historical photographs of the interior of the church are archived in the SAM Stadtmuseum Wiesbaden. Some years after Christopher Benson's death, his widow left for Lugano in Switzerland, where Jeffery also designed and built the Anglican Church of St. Edward the Confessor c. 1902.

From late 1892 he worked on mission buildings including a school and dispensary for Bishop George Francis Popham Blyth on a site near Mt. Carmel in Haifa, Palestine before designing the Anglican College in Jerusalem, whose collegiate church was consecrated in 1898, later as a cathedral. In this year, he submitted his design drawing for the college showing progress of construction to the Royal Academy of Arts and continued directing construction until completion in 1912.

Whilst working as Curator of Ancient Buildings in Cyprus he also designed the English College in Nicosia 1900 for Canon Frank Darvall Newham [7]and supervised the construction of the Archaeological Museum of Cyprus in Nicosia.

Personal life

He was born to Henry and Isabella Jeffery nee Everett. Both his father and grandfather were builders. After the death of his father in 1878, the family moved from Worcester Park, Surrey to West Hill, Sydenham opposite the new Crystal Palace, whereafter he appears to have emigrated permanently.[8] By 1886 he lived or stayed regularly in Florence, Italy.

He was married to Helen Jane Luxmore. In 1913, she founded “Field Club”, the first tennis club in Cyprus.[9]

Publications

See also

References

  1. ↑ Cypriot archaeology and the Great War Archived 21 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine, asorblog.org. 10 June 2014.
  2. 1 2 Polignosi. "Τζέφρυ Τζώρτζ George Jeffery". polignosi.com. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  3. ↑ Jeffery, George, A Description of the Historic Monuments of Cyprus (London: Zeno, 1983).
  4. ↑ Despina Pilides, George Jeffery: His Diaries and the Ancient Monuments of Cyprus (Nicosia: [Department of Antiquities, Cyprus], 2009).
  5. ↑ Merrillees, Robert (2010). "George Jeffery: his diaries and the ancient monuments of Cyprus. By Despina Pilides. 270mm. 2 vols, pp 787, 68 col, 28 b&w ills. Lefkosia: Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Communications and Works, Republic of Cyprus, 2009. ISBN Vol 1: 9789963364503; Vol 2: 9789963364510. €89.75". The Antiquaries Journal. 90: 510–511. doi:10.1017/S000358151000048X. ISSN 0003-5815. S2CID 162545900.
  6. ↑ Jeffery, George H E (July 1892). Application to Admission as Fellow RIBA. Library of the Royal Institue of British Architects (published 1892).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ↑ https://englishschool.ac.cy/about-us/history-heritage/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ "Search".
  9. ↑ Polignosi. "Αντισφαίριση". polignosi.com. Retrieved 21 August 2023.