Born in 1813, the son of a boat builder on the
Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, he was educated in Brecon at the expense of a local coal merchant.
Career After leaving school, he took over his sponsor's business, and after adding the old
Breconshire Brewery to his interests in 1841, In 1876, he became
High Sheriff of Brecknockshire. A supporter of the
Welsh language, in his position as secretary of the Calvinistic Methodist ministers and elders in Brecknock, in June 1848 he drafted and co-signed a letter to J. P. Kay Shuttleworth of the Committee of Council on Education, urging that H.M. Inspectors of Schools should have a knowledge of Welsh.
Religion A fervent
Calvinistic Methodist, he was secretary to the group of Calvinistic Methodist ministers and elders in Brecknock and promoted the development of churches in both England and Wales. Jones granted ex-gratia freehold sites to all denominations on both his Mardy, and later Cwmdare sites.
Schooling Jones was one of the chief promoters of the
British and Foreign School Society in South Wales, and a financial contributor to the establishment of the Normal School in Brecon in 1846. He then became chairman of the Brecon School Board from its formation until 1879. Jones supported the efforts of David Charles III to combine Government aid with voluntary charity. At a conference held at
Merthyr Tydfil, non-conformist ministers from
Monmouthshire,
Glamorgan, and Brecknock agreed to accept Government aid, enabling the formation of the South Wales British Schools Association, with Jones as treasurer and
Benjamin Hall, 1st Baron Llanover as president. ==Death==