John Albert Jeffery

John Albert Jeffery was born in Plymouth, England, on October 26, 1855, and emigrated to the United States in 1876. He settled in Albany, New York, where biographical records connect him with the music of St. Agnes School and the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral of All Saints. His surname is often misspelled Jeffrey in later hymnals, but authority records give Jeffery.

In 1886 Jeffery composed the 11.10.11.10 tune now indexed as ANCIENT OF DAYS and also called ALBANY. The date and Albany name connect it with William Croswell Doane's bicentennial text, and the two appear together in the 1894 musical edition of the Episcopal hymnal authorized in 1892. The tune's later hymnal history extends beyond this text: it has also carried such works as Hope of the World. Jeffery composed other sacred tunes, including ST. AGNES SCHOOL.

Jeffery left Albany for Yonkers in 1893 and served at First Presbyterian Church. He later taught at the New England Conservatory in Boston; an institutional historical photograph identifies him among the conservatory's early faculty. He died in Brookline, Massachusetts, on June 4, 1929. ANCIENT OF DAYS remains the composition most widely associated with his name.