Robert Jones 1706-1742

Robert JONES 1706-1742

Biographical Note

Robert Jones II, described as a country gentleman, was born at Fonmon Castle, Glamorganshire. He was the son of Robert Jones I, Member of Parliament for Glamorgan from 1710 – 1715 and the great grandson of Philip Jones who was an influential Parliamentarian in the Civil War, and attained high office under Oliver Cromwell. Robert Jones II was educated at Christ Church, Oxford and became Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1729. In 1732 he married Mary Forrest with whom he had five children. He was a close friend of Charles Wesley and Howell Harris. Following his death at Fonmon in 1742, Wesley wrote a long elegaic poem which was published in several editions.

Books

Robert Jones' inventory states that he had books in his study to the value of £40. This modest collection probably still remains within the much larger library built up by his descendents, all of whom seemed to place great importance on maintaining and expanding the Fonmon Castle Library. It is not possible to identify the titles which were first purchased by Philip Jones when he bought the sequestered Fonmon Castle in 1654. Robert Jones III created the elegant Georgian room, decorated by Thomas Stocking in the 1750s, which now holds the majority of the books. A detailed catalogue was published in 1969 although there have been many further additions since then, especially from the Boothby family who inherited Fonmon through marriage in the 20th century. There seems to be no bookplate for the Jones family although they did bear arms. Fonmon Library, which now comprises over one thousand titles covering a wide variety of subjects, is a rare example of a collection remaining in one family and one location since the seventeenth century.

Sources

• NLW LL 1742/157. Will of Robert Jones, Fonmon Castle, Gentleman, 1742.

• Evans M. A catalogue of the library at Fonmon Castle, Glamorgan. Cardiff: University College Library, 1969.

• G, T.C. Some account of the parish of Penmark. Archaeologia Cambrensis, 1861; 7: 1 – 22.

• Wesley C. An elegy on the death of Robert Jones, Esq of Fonmon-Castle in Glamorganshire, South-Wales. Bristol : Printed by Felix Farley, 1742.

• Williams, Moelwyn "JONES, ROBERT (1706? - 1742), country gentleman." Dictionary of Welsh Biography.