JONES, THOMAS ('Twm Shôn Catti'; 1532 - 1609), landowner, antiquary, genealogist, and bard
Pseudonym: Twm Shôn Catti
Date of birth: 1532
Date of death: 1609
Spouse: Joan Devereux (née Price)
Gender: Male
Occupation: landowner, antiquary, genealogist, and bard
Area of activity: History and Culture; Land Ownership; Literature and Writing; Poetry
Author: A. David Fraser Jenkins
Of Fountain Gate near Tregaron, Cardiganshire, the natural son of a Cardiganshire landowner. According to the diary of John Dee he was born 1 August or 10 August 1532 (J. Roberts and Andrew G. Watson, John Dee's Library Catalogue (1990, 45-46). Thomas Jones visited Dee in London in 1590 and Manchester in 1596, and they corresponded with each other in 1597 : Dee called him 'my cousin'.
He is described in 1559 as 'Thomas Johns alias Catty.' The name of his first wife is unknown; his second, whom he married in 1607, was Joan, widow of Thomas Williams of Ystrad-ffin and daughter of Sir John Price of Brecon Priory (1502?-1555). His manuscripts begin about 1570. He assisted George Owen and Lewys Dwnn and the officers of the Heralds College. He was steward of Caron in 1601. He died in 1609, the year in which his will was proved at Carmarthen.
Apocryphal tales have been associated with his name, but his manuscripts show that he was not devoid of scholarship, and official records accord him the status of a country gentleman.
Author
- A. David Fraser Jenkins
- Transactions of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society and Field Club, 1939
- Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1611-8, 130
- Notes and Queries, 1st ser., ii, 12
- The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1949
- manuscripts in N.L.W., B.M., and Cardiff Free Library
- J. O. Halliwell, The private Diary of Dr John Dee, and the catalogue of his library of manuscripts, from the original manuscripts in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford and Trinity College Library, Cambridge (London 1842)
- Dafydd H. Evans in D. P. Davies (ed.), Coleg Dewi a'r Fro (Lampeter 1984), 8-22
- Yr Aradr, 7 (1996), 174-89
Sources
- NLW Archives: Will of Thomas Johnes, 1609
- T. J. Llewelyn Prichard, The adventures and vagaries of Twm Shon Catti, descriptive of life in Wales (Aberystwyth 1828)
- T. J. Llewelyn Prichard, Edward Salter, The adventures and vagaries of Twm Shon Catti: alias Thomas Jones, Esq. of Tregaron, a wild wag of Wales (Llanidloes 1873)
- T. J. Llewelyn Prichard, Difyr-gampau a gorchestion yr enwog Twm-Shôn-Catti, gwron Cymreig (Bala 188-?)
- R. J. Roberts, 'John Dee and the Matter of Britain', The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1991, p.137
- Coflein: Twm Sion Cati's Cave
- Wikipedia Article: Twm Siôn Cati
Further reading
- Wikidata: Q3402227
Additional Links
Published date: 1959
Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
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