Jeffrey (as he prefers to be called) was born in County Durham and educated at Durham School and University College, Oxford. After National service with 4th RHA in Germany he was articled with the Town Clerk of Newcastle upon Tyne. Upon qualifying as a Solicitor he taught law at a law tutors in Surrey. He then served as an assistant solicitor with Birmingham Corporation until 1961 when he joined Hampshire County Council becoming Deputy Clerk of the Council, Deputy Clerk of the Hampshire River Authority and Deputy Clerk of the Peace in 1967.

In 1973 when local government was re-organised he was appointed the first Chief Executive of the new Northamptonshire County Council. A challenging post as the population was being increased with four New or Expanding Town arrangements . Honoured by his colleagues he was successively Honorary Secretary and then President of the Society of Chief Executives and Hon. Secretary and later Chairman of the Association of County Chief Executives.

He was appointed by the then Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, to chair a Committee on Juvenile Delinquency whose recommendations were largely accepted by the Government. In 1980 Jeffrey was appointed by the FCO as an Election Supervisor for the “free and fair” elections in Southern Rhodesia. He served for three months in Matabeleland.

As a Chartered Secretary, Jeffrey was elected President of the Institute in 1989 and carried through changes to the Institute’s Byelaws which made important alterations to the governance of the Institute, reflecting the growing numbers overseas. This was followed up by negotiating Delegation Agreements with the Overseas Divisions.

The highlight of Jeffrey’s career was being elected Master of the Company in 2005. He was appointed CBE in 1991 for services to local government and is a Deputy Lieutenant for Northamptonshire.

He is married to Margaret and they have three children and seven grandchildren.