Page:Protestant Exiles from France Agnew (1st ed. vol 3).djvu/98

  John Henry Lefroy, of the Royal Artillery, F.R.S., it is entitled, “Notes and Documents relating to the Family of Loffroy, of Cambray, prior to 1587, and of Canterbury 1587-1779, now chiefly represented by the families of Lefroy of Carriglass, co. Longford, Ireland, and of Itchell (Hants), with branches in Australia and Canada. Being a contribution to the History of French Protestant Refugees. By a Cadet. Woolwich : printed at the Press of the Royal Artillery histitution, 1868.” Some of my readers may be so fortunate as to have an opportunity to read this book (it has not been my good fortune). For the benefit of others I compile the following account from the Register, Smiles, Burke, &c. The refugee from Cambray was Antoine Loffroy. After the lapse of some generations he was represented by Thomas Lefroy of Canterbury (b. 1680, d. 1723), a silk-dyer, to whose memory a tablet was erected in Potham Church, Kent, with this inscription:—

Anthony, son of Thomas, settled at Leghorn as a merchant; he was a learned and enthusiastic antiquary, his special researches were devoted to coins, of which his collection amounted to upwards of 6600 specimens. This collection was celebrated for its quality as well as its quantity, and there is a Catalogus Numismaticus Mesei Lefroyani; he died in 1779, leaving two sons, viz., Lieut.-Colonel Anthony Lefroy, of the 9th Dragoons, who died at Limerick in 1819; and Rev. Isaac Peter George Lefroy, Fellow of All Souls’ College, Oxford, Rector of Ash and Compton, who died in 1806. The eldest son of the former was the Right Hon. Thomas Langlois Lefroy, LL.D., of Carrickglass, late Lord Chief-Justice of Ireland. The eldest son of the latter was Rev. John Henry George Lefroy, Rector of Ash and Compton, and proprietor of Evvshott House, Hampshire, father of Charles Edward Lefroy, Esq., of Ewshott. From both the Irish and English boughs of the Walloon stem, there are numerous branches adorned by worthy scions, including the following clergymen, Rev. Henry Lefroy, Rector of Santry, the Chief-Justice’s brother; Rev. Jeffry Lefroy, Rector of Aghaderg, the Chief-Justice’s son; Rev. Benjamin Lefroy, Rector of Ash from 1823 to 1829; and Rev. Anthony Cottrell Lefroy, incumbent of Crookham, Surrey; the two last being uncle and brother of the squire of Ewshott. There is a very creditable book, entitled:— “Are these things so? or some quotations and remarks in defence of what the world calls Methodism, by Christopher Edward Lefroy, of Chapel Street, Bedford Row. London, 1809.”

The Chief-Justice was one of the great lawyers of his time; he was born on 8th January 1776, the eldest son of Lieut.-Colonel Lefroy and Anne Gardiner, his wife; he was a brilliant student of Trinity College, Dublin; B.A. in 1796; called to the bar in 1797; King’s Counsel in 1816; Sergeant-at-law in 1818; M.P. for Dublin University from 1830 to 1841; Baron of the Irish Exchequer in 1841; Lord Chief-Justice of the Irish Queen’s Bench in 1852. When he was approaching his 90th year, it was understood that he was willing to retire from public life, when he could resign “gracefully” — namely, whenever his own political friends should return to power. This change of government did not occur immediately, and some animadversions having been made, he had the advantage of receiving and reading numerous monumental eulogies on himself. Such panegyrics were just; they are well summed up by a sentence in the Illustrated London News: “Calm, dignified, learned and courteous, a profound lawyer and Christian gentleman, Chief-Justice Lefroy will long be remembered as one of the greatest lawyers who have adorned the Irish Bench during the last half century.” The Register states, “He continued to take his seat on the bench and to hear causes until his 90th year, when the return of Lord Derby to place gave him the opportunity of gracefully resigning his post in the month of May 1866.” He died at Bray, near Dublin, on 4th May 1869, aged 93, “the oldest member of the legal profession in the three kingdoms.” He had married in 1799, Mary, sole heiress of Jeffry Paul, Esq., of Silver Spring (Wexford), and left four sons and three daughters. His heir Anthony Lefroy of Carrickglass (born 1800), late M.P. for Dublin University, married in 1824, Hon. Jane King Harman, daughter of Viscount Lorton; his