About Robert Jeffery

The Very Revd. Robert Jeffery was born in 1935 and educated at St. Paul's School and King's College, London. After two curacies he worked in central Church Administration at Church House, Westminster and at the British Council of Churches. He was then Vicar of Headington in Oxford and moved to Tong in 1978, firstly as Lichfield Diocesan Missioner and subsequently as Archdeacon of Salop. In 1987 he became Dean of Worcester Cathedral and in 1996 moved to Oxford as Canon and Sub-Dean of Christ Church.

In 1999 he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity by Birmingham University. He retired in 2002 and lives in Oxford. He is a well-known authority on matters concerning Mission and Ecumenism and is the author of 11 books and has contributed to 9 other dictionaries and books of essays, including matters of Christian Spirituality and English Cathedrals.

In 2007 he was made an Hon. Fellow of Ripon College, Cuddesdon. He is spending his retirement writing, and contributes book reviews to various journals and writes clerical obituaries. He is a widower with four children (2 musicians and 2 artists) and four grandchildren. He has been working on “Discovering Tong” since 1984 and has three other writing projects in hand.

The photograph shows the author holding one of Treasures of Tong, the priceless Tong Cup.