First granted in 1736 to soldiers from Rowley, Massachusetts, returning from the war in Canada, the town was known as Rowley-Canada. In 1749 the town was re-chartered as Monadnock Number 2, sometimes called Middle Monadnock or Middletown. It was one of the first towns established under the New Hampshire proprietors' purchase of undivided lands under the Masonian claim. The town was regranted in 1767, and incorporated in 1773 as Jaffrey, in honor of George Jaffrey, member of a prominent Portsmouth family. George Jaffrey's son was a life trustee of Dartmouth College, and designer of the official college seal.
