I want you to meet Jeffrey Poole, ‘Gentleman’ (1766-1844), and his wife Mary (nee Lloyd). They lived in Trefnanney Bank, a poetically shabby farmhouse about 5 miles south of Llanynynech. Jeffrey is my/our Great Great Great Great Grandfather, and was basically a dude, and we all owe him one.

Carol Davies (Mum) trespassing at Trefnanney Bank, August 2020

Jeffrey’s father was called Jeffrey, and his father was called Jeffrey, and his father was called Jeffrey, and his father was called Jeffrey and… well I can’t find any records further back than his death on 13th March 1679/80, but I’d wager a tasty welsh rarebit on a few more Jeffreys.

1679/80 date explained: Julius Ceaser’s adopted calendar meant the date was 11 days behind the solar year by 1752 because of miscalculated leap years. In order to get Easter back where it should be, Pope Gregory introduced the Gregorian Calendar in that year. As a result pre-1752 dates can be confusing. For example, the day after 24 March 1565 was 25 March 1566. Dates between 1 January and 24 March are often recorded using a technique called “double dating” such as old 8x Grandpa Jeffrey above. The 13th March 1679/80 would have been 1679 in his day, but is now 1680 using the new Gregorian system – clear as mustard.

Jeffrey senior (1733-1801), our man’s Dad, was a bit of a tosser, and come to that so was his wife Jane (nee Morris). He was a rich tosser too, possessing six ‘estates’. I form this opinion from passages in an 1833 pocketbook passed down over the years (author John Poole 1845-1929):

 

You could probably extract the essence for a complete season of Emmerdale from this feud; lots of fields and manure plus the cold, affluent parents of a headstrong romantic son and his belle, the delicate, saintly Mary:

Shrewsbury Chronicle: Died on Monday the 27th November 1826 Mrs Poole wife of Mr Jeffrey Poole of Trefnanney in the county of Montgomery after a short but sever illness which she bore with the most christian fortitude and resignation to the divine… goes on to say how she helped the poor but I can’t find the original again 🙁

Okay so I may be over egging this and doing Jeffers senior and his missus a bit of an injustice, but remember if our ‘Gentleman Jeffrey’ had not followed his heart the following 122 people would not exist, not counting infant deaths and those yet to be traced:

Davies (Iliffe, John, Bryan, Toby, Simon, Ben, Eleanor, Harry, Imogen, Sophie, John John), Clearhill (Bron, Megan, Rosie, Bryony), Coulson (Margaret, Tim, Rob, Ben, Jamie, Tom, Jack, Laurie, Elliot), Kenyon (Iliffe, William, Jasmine, Madelaine), Lock (Jo, Frankii, Livvy, Sadie), Poole (Jeffrey, Humphrey, Harold, Jeffrey, Emma, Bernard, Edith (Davies), Thomas, Margaret, Kate, John, Jeffrey, Thomas, Elizabeth (Savage), John, Robert, David, Jeffrey, Thomas, Jeffrey James, Emily, Elizabeth, Henry, Charles, Gerald, Ann, Jeffrey Francis, William, John Powell, Robert, Maria Kate, Thomas, Margaret Ann, Caroline, Francis, Anne, Jeffrey William, Margaret K, John Powell, Frank Powell, Elizabeth, Arthur, Herbert, Henry J, Julia, James, Ethel E, Amy, Gertrude, Denis, Helene, Kathleen, Edna, Janette, Isobel, Michael, Thomas, David, Bruce, Childs (Mary Emma), Alpin (Norah), Sheldon (Myra), Jenkins (Christine), Davies (Hilda, Thomas, John, Roy), Watkins (Margaret, Richard, Dorothy), McNamara (Jane, Carolyn), Burr (Wendy), Mount (Susan, Trevor, Hayley), Savage (Michael, Joanna, Gracie), Calver (Phyllis, Isobel)…

So here’s to Great Great Great Great Grandpa Jeff and Great Great Great Great Grandma Mary!

I will see if I can unearth her background and try and understand what her shortcomings in the eyes of Jeff the Tosser and his Lady Jane.