Sir Jerome Alexander (c.1585–1670) was an English-born barrister, judge and politician, who spent much of his career in Ireland, and became a substantial Irish landowner. He was a noted benefactor of Trinity College Dublin. As a judge, he was so ruthless in securing guilty verdicts in criminal cases, and in imposing the death penalty on the guilty party, that for many years after his death "to be Alexandered" was an Irish synonym for being hanged.

Aylsham is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly 9 mi (14 km) north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, 11 miles (18 km) upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea, although it was only made navigable after 1779, allowing grain, coal and timber to be brought up river.