Famous Cricketers No 63 - A.O.Jones

funeral took place at the Priory Church of St. Peter in the town and he is buried in the local cemetery, next to one of his brothers and near his mother. The Early Years Arthur Owen’s paternal grandfather was William Jones (1792 - 1882). He was born in Dolgellau, then spelt Dolgelley and in the county of Merionethshire. He was educated at Shrewsbury School. On leaving, he studied law and was for many years a solicitor in London’s Crosby Square and a vestry clerk at St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate. He was a J.P., a member of the Corporation of London and a Deputy Lord Lieutenant of his native county. He lived at Glandwr Hall near Dolgellau and married Harriet, the youngest daughter of Thomas Cartwright, who was also a member of the Corporation of London. William and Harriet had three sons and three daughters. The middle son, John Cartwright Jones, was born at Glandwr Hall in February 1831. On leaving school, he obtained his B.A. at Christ Church, Oxford in 1854. That year he became a deacon in the parish of Breaston in Derbyshire and was priested by the Bishop of Lichfield a year later. He obtained his M.A. in 1856 and the following year became perpetual curate at Thrumpton in Nottinghamshire. While there, he married Mary White of Nottingham at St. John’s Church, Beeston, on 23rd April 1862. Their first child, William Henry Wescomb, was born in the February of the following year. At the end of 1863 Rev. Jones and his new family left Thrumpton and early next year he was licenced as Rector of Shelton in Nottinghamshire. The church is dedicated to St. Mary and All Saints and was then in the diocese of Lincoln. The huge rectory is at the rear of the church and it was here that the other eight children were born in the ten years up to 1874. The only girl, Mary Gertrude was born on 13th July 1864. The remaining children were:- Thomas Howel, 1865, John Llewellyn, 1866, Hugh Trevor, 1867, Christopher Lloyd, 1869, George Herbert, 1871, Arthur Owen, 1872 and Francis Horace, February 1874. Shelton was, no doubt, a good living to have, despite all the children. The 1871 Census shows that the rectory was staffed by a nurse, a cook and a housemaid, all unmarried and living in, with the family. It appears that the rector preferred to use his middle name and he is often referred to as Rev Cartwright Jones. All was not well, however, for the incumbent was in poor health. Within a year of the birth of his last child, Rev Jones had died in Barmouth, near his family’s home. His death certificate gives the cause of death as chronic bronchitis and many years of heart disease and lung damage. Arthur Owen was a little over two years old when his father died and the family had to leave the security of the rectory. The letter of probate, dated 20th February 1875, states that Mary Jones is living in Barmouth. By 3rd April, she is paying rates of 18 shillings a year on 15 Alexandra Road in Bedford. Life could not have been easy for the newly widowed Mrs Jones, though the diocese and the two families probably shouldered some of the financial burden. William Jones was a wealthy man and would have seen it as his duty to support his widowed daughter-in-law in her time of need. The eldest son, William Henry Wescomb, was already a pupil at Christ’s Hospital in London and it is likely that his grandfather paid most or all of the fees. William Jones died in 1882 and, among other provisions of his will, he left Mary Jones an investment of £6,000. The annual interest from this sum was expressly for the education of John Cartwright’s children. He also left her £100 in her own right. William Jones’s social position can be judged by the fact that although his will requested “a simple funeral”, the report in the Merionethshire Herald and Cambrian Visitor states that, “The body was enclosed in three coffins, the inner shell being of Christina pine, the middle of lead, and the outer of polished British oak, with plain but massive brass furniture.” It also says that most of the shops in Dolgellau were shut, blinds on windows were drawn and that the local MP was in the funeral procession. 4