Thomas Jefferys

Thomas Jefferys (c. 1719–1771) was an engraver, cartographer, and publisher in London. Some maps from the 1730s bear his name, but his primary career began in 1744. His first atlas was The Small English Atlas (1748-9, with Thomas Kitchin). He also worked as a cartographer with the engravers Samuel Bradford and the Independent Isaac Taylor.  Some of his best work were maps of America, including A General Topography of North America (1768).  He also published The Journal of Major George Washington (1755). He was also the engraver for Benjamin Donn’s impressive map of Devon (1765). When he was appointed geographer to George III in 1760, his assistants included Isaac Taylor and John Spilsbury, both nonconformists. Most likely Jefferys was a member of the Barbican Chapel, joining in 1742, where both Emmanuel Bowen (to whom he was apprenticed) and Thomas Kitchin worshiped as well. He may later have attended the Pinners’ Hall congregation. His children, however, were baptized at St. Martins-in-the-Fields.