JONES, Sir THOMAS (1614 - 1692), chief justice

was of Welsh descent (of the tribe of Ednowain Bendew, for which see Arch.Camb., 1876, 1877, and more directly, 1878), but the family had long been associated with Shropshire, and Sir Thomas himself acquired Welsh denizenship only after his marriage (with Jane Barnard, of Chester), when he took up his residence at Carreghwfa ('Carreghova') Hill, Montgomeryshire. His career is described in D.N.B. and in Williams, Montgomeryshire worthies . The son of Edward Jones, of Sandford (Salop), he went from Shrewsbury school to Emmanuel College, Cambridge (B.A. 1632), but had entered Lincoln's Inn in 1629, and was called in 1634. During the Civil War and the Commonwealth, he 'trimmed,' but after 1660 he rose rapidly: serjeant, 1669; king's serjeant and knight, 1671; judge of the King's Bench, 1676; chief justice of Common Pleas, 1683. He was subservient to the Crown and, indeed, in 1680, the Commons ordered his impeachment for showing favour to James, duke of York. But when, in 1686, James (by that time king) claimed the right of 'dispensing' with the law, Jones refused to concur, and was dismissed from his office. He then retired to Carreghwfa. Repercussions against his former actions (as judge under Charles II) led to his committal to custody for a while in 1689. He died at Carreghwfa, 31 May 1692, and was buried in S. Alkmonds church, Shrewsbury.

Author

• Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, (1881 - 1969)

Published date: 1959

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