Henry Jones (politician)

Sir Henry Jones (1532 - September 24, 1586 ) was a Welsh politician who was elected nine times as a member of the House of Commons .

origin

Henry Jones came from the Welsh Jones family . He was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Jones and his second wife Mary, daughter of James Berkeley of Thornbury , Gloucestershire . His mother was the widow of Thomas Perrot from Haverfordwest . His younger siblings were Richard Jones and Sir John Perrot was his half-brother.

Life

Henry's father had become one of the most important members of the gentry of South West Wales. Henry Jones was just 21 years old when he was first elected Knight of the Shire in March 1553 . This began his long career as a member of parliament, in which he was elected as Knight of the Shire in nine consecutive parliaments. In March and October 1553 and April and November 1554 he was elected Knight of the Shire for Carmarthenshire and 1555 for Cardiganshire . During the first parliament under Queen Maria , he was knighted in the autumn of 1553 . He served in 1557 under the 2nd Earl of Rutland as a captain of a company in the Netherlands and fought in the battle of Saint-Quentin . During his absence from Wales he must have feared his re-election, which is why he was elected as a candidate for the Earl of Pembroke as MP for Old Sarum in 1558 . In 1559 he was re-elected as Knight of the Shire for Cardiganshire and in 1563 and 1571 again as Knight of the Shire for Carmarthenshire. In addition to various other offices he was sheriff of Cardiganshire from 1553 to 1554 and from 1559 to 1560 , from 1573 to 1574 and from 1583 to 1584 sheriff of Carmarthenshire and from 1581 to 1582 sheriff of Breconshire .

After his father's death in 1558 or 1559, Jones inherited his estates, including Abermarlais in Carmarthenshire. During the reign of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I , he was considered the leading politician of Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire until his death. From 1569 on he was represented in every parliamentary commission that dealt with matters of the two counties . In 1581 he was one of the seven commissioners of the Privy Council to investigate irregularities in the diocese of Saint David's . In 1573 the Earl of Essex tried to prevent his appointment as sheriff of Carmarthenshire because he suspected him of Catholicism . His Catholicism cannot have been strong, however, as in his will Jones donated funds for St David's Cathedral and for the repair of the Anglican parish church of Llansadwrn .

Family and offspring

His first marriage was around 1553 to Elizabeth, daughter of Matthew Herbert from Cogan Pill. She was a niece of the Earl of Pembroke . With her he had at least one son. After the death of Elizabeth in 1571, he married Eleanor, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Worcester . She was the widow of Sir Roger Vaughan of Porthaml in Breconshire . His third marriage was on August 31, 1584, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Salusbury from Lleweni in Denbighshire. She was the widow of John Salesbury from Rûg. He also had at least one illegitimate son named John. His main heir was his eldest son, Sir Thomas Jones, from his first marriage to Elizabeth Herbert.

Web links

• PS Edwards: JONES, Henry I (? 1532-86), of Abermarlais, Carm. (History of Parliament online, Ref Volumes: 1558–1603)
• AHD / PS Edwards: JONES, Henry I (? 1532-86), of Abermarlais, Carm. (History of Parliament online, Ref Volumes: 1509–1558)