James Jefferys

James Jefferys (19 May 1751 – 31 January 1784) was a British engraver and painter. His work was reassessed in the 1970s following the discovery of a lost set of drawings in Maidstone.

Life Jefferys was born in Maidstone in 1751 to William and Parnell Jefferys; his father was a coach painter and artist. He spent time working under William Woollett who was also born in Maidstone. Jefferys enrolled at the Royal Academy and his talent was marked with a gold medal for a drawing titled Seleucus and Stratonice in 1773. That year he started exhibiting at the Society of Artists and the following year he gained a prize from the Society.

Legacy Jefferys' Gibraltar painting was exhibited at the European Museum in 1804. Many drawings by Jefferys were erroneously attributed to James Barry and John Hamilton Mortimer until they were reassigned in the 1970s. This came about following the discovery of a collection of his drawings in Maidstone. Jefferys has work in the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and his painting of the battle at Gibraltar is at Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery. His work is regarded as important but derivative.