Chapter 2: The early Joneses of the Holywell area

The best starting-point for the history of my father's side of the family is provided by my great-great-grandfather, Robert Jones. He stands rather like Menes of Ancient Egypt: a figure who had a firm foundation in historical fact but was surrounded by legends which proved to be products of later times. He was indeed the first person of whom the family had any positive knowledge (unsound though some of that later proved to be). His importance, however, lies not only in his own position as the head of the "first dynasty" of Joneses, but also in the guide-lines he provides to earlier members of the family about whom almost nothing has been known hitherto.

Tradition had it that Robert Jones was an eminent surgeon of Liverpool, who married into the Gresley family of Drakelow near Burton-on-Trent and created the "Gresley connection" referred to later on in this chapter. An article in the North Wales Weekly News of 24 August 1961, based on information from a member of the family then living in North Wales, described him in virtually these terms. My grandfather's obituary notice of July 1905 (see Chapter 6) gave a similar impression and so did a remark made to me by my father many years ago. Moreover, belief in the family was that there was some direct connection between my great-great-grandfather and Sir Robert Jones, the eminent orthopaedic surgeon after whom Oswestry Hospital is named.

The facts are rather more prosaic. According to Gresley family records, Robert Jones was a pupil of Dr William Gresley, the House Surgeon at the Liverpool Old Infirmary during the early years of the 19th century. Living with Dr Gresley was his niece Mary Anne Gresley, one of seven children of Robert Gresley and Mary Deane of whom three survived. Robert Gresley, who died some time after 1791 when Mary Deane died in childbirth, was the seventh child of John Gresley and Mary Toplis of Netherseal in Derbyshire, where a junior branch of the Gresleys of Drakelow had been established by Thomas Gresley in about 1700 (see Appendix A). According to a genealogical note prepared by my great-grandfather, which came to light following the death of one of my aunts in 1968, "Mary Anne, who was born on 16 September 1780 and christened on 8 November following, married first in Liverpool and afterwards by banns in the parish of St Thomas in Southwark in the county of Surrey on 10 April 1809 to Mr Robert Jones, Surgeon, of Liverpool". I have not been able to clarify the reference to a first marriage to Robert Jones in Liverpool: it may have had something to do with the fact that he was only 19 years of age at the time and some form of consent may have been lacking. But I have traced in the archives of the Greater London Council the parish register' entry for the marriage on 10 April 1809. This took place. in St Thomas's Church in St Thomas' Street near London Bridge. The building ceased to be used as a church many years ago, but I have stood on the spot where the altar was located in what is now a diocesan meeting hall.

It is safe to assume that at the time of this marriage Robert Jones was connected in some way with the old St Thomas's Hospital, which adjoined the church and went out of use about 1870 when the new St Thomas's Hospital was built further to the west on the banks of the Thames. It may well be that he was completing his training in London but the hospital records do not provide any information on this point. However, it is known that Robert Jones moved to Liverpool with his wife shortly afterwards because his only child, William Gresley Jones, was born there on 16 May 1810. Further details about Robert and Mary Anne Jones are almost non-existent. Gresley records indicated that "later in life" they resided in Holywell, Flintshire; and the chance discovery of my great-grandfather's genealogical note gave Robert's date of death as 8 May 1811. Where, then, did he die and what happened to his widow? Reference to the Holywell registers answered both questions. They showed that "Robert Jones, Surgeon" died there aged 22 and was buried on 11 May 1811, and that Mary Anne survived him by no more than about 18 months: she is recorded as having died on 26 September 1812, aged 33, and been buried on 1 October following. (As she was born in September 1780 she would in fact have been only 32 when she died. But as she would then have been a young widow living on her own or possibly with her deceased husband's family this minor error is understandable.) What caused the deaths of Robert and Mary Anne is not known. But the fact that they died within 18 months of each other while still fairly young strongly suggests an infectious disease such as tuberculosis, which was rife in the towns of North Wales at that time and for many years afterwards. Holywell parish churchyard has been tidied up within recent years and the gravestones that have been retained do not include one for them; but it is understood that one did exist at an earlier date.

Robert Jones was therefore not the "eminent surgeon" as described in the family tradition: he was only a very young and recently qualified surgeon at the time of his death. (Editor's note: Robert was a pupil of Doctor William Theophilus Gresley, the secretary and apothecary of the old Liverpool Infirmary - see Ben Staniford's website). What is more, a surgeon during the early years of the nineteenth century was a relatively modest appointment. It did not rank as high in the medical heirarchy as a physician or an apothecary and was by no means comparable with a surgeon in the modern sense. Nor did Robert Jones of Holywell have any connection with Sir Robert Jones of Oswestry, who was the son of a Rhyl building contractor and was not born until 1836. But the "Gresley connection", although it was only very brief and produced only one orphan child, has lived on in the memory of the Jones family for 170 years. And although with the passage of time it became the subject of error and misconception, the consequences of that brief connection can be traced to the present day. Over the generations the name Gresley has appeared repeatedly as a family Christian name and is still in existence as such. Furthermore, although the descendants of William Gresley Jones have adhered to Jones as their surname, those of his second marriage have gone further and for very many years have used Gresley-Jones as a surname. The erstwhile lords of Drakelow would no doubt be surprised to learn of its origin, and the fact that it is now to be found in a number of countries overseas, including Canada and Australia.

As I have already mentioned, Robert Jones serves as a guide not only to the "Gresley connection" and the generations that came after him but also to the earlier members of the family in the Holywell area, of whom little or nothing has previously been recorded. The Holywell parish registers show that Robert, the son of Thomas and Ann Jones, was baptised on 15 April 1789. This, of course, was long before the introduction of birth certificates and the registers contain no further information about this baptism and do not give Robert's actual date of birth. But I have no reason to doubt that this was the baptism of Robert Jones, surgeon, my great-great-grandfather and that it followed very shortly on his birth. As it happens, there were no other Robert Joneses baptised in Holywell parish church within a year or so either side of April 1789, which date is itself consistent with his age when he died. Moreover, there is some corroborative evidence concerning his father. In the course of my researches Arthur Jones told me he distinctly recalled Jane Elizabeth saying that "Dr Jones had done very well for himself (on becoming a surgeon and marrying into the Gresley family) considering that his father was only a grocer", and also that she had referred to the father as Thomas Jones. Now there were certainly Thomas Joneses who had been grocers in Holywell since the early eighteenth century: three of them lie under a black slate gravestone near the parish church door. What is more, a local directory for 1841 shows that a Thomas Jones, grocer, was then still living in Whitford Street, although the census return for that year does not identify him. The conclusion I have reached is that Robert Jones was the son of Thomas Jones and Ann Totty who were married at Holywell on 20 September 1784. The marriage entry shows Thomas as aged 21, the son of Robert and Mary Jones, and Ann as aged 28, the daughter of Thomas and Jane Totty (members of an old Holywell family who live in the town to the present day). The parish register also shows that a Thomas Jones, the son of Robert and Mary Jones, was baptised on 20 June 1763. This, again, is the only baptism entry that fits in with the age of Thomas Jones on marriage and it is reasonable to assume that it lies in the direct line of ascent of the Jones family. The forename Robert, repeated in several later generations, is an additional pointer in the same direction.

Finally, the Holywell registers show that a Robert Jones (widower) was married to Mary Edwards (widow) on 13 July 1761, and this seems to be the earliest identifiable date on the Holywell side of the family. On the evidence available it can therefore be said that grandparents of Robert Jones, surgeon, named Robert and Mary Jones, were probably living in the town as far back as 1720 or 1730. But it would be unsafe to be more precise than that.

It is not possible to say whether Robert and Mary Jones, or Thomas and Ann Jones, had any other children: nor is it possible to say when any of them died, for there were others of the same names living in Holywell and the older parish registers seldom include the age of a person on death. Jane Elizabeth Jones's reference to Thomas Jones, a grocer, demonstrates that her father William Gresley Jones was not without knowledge of his grandparents, even though his own parents had died when he was so young. Indeed, it would have been quite possible for one or both grandparents born around 1760 to have been still alive during William's early years and for him to have been living with them. But there are no references to them in those of his papers that have survived. (Editor's note: it is probable that Thomas and Ann Jones raised William in Holywell when he was orphaned in infancy.)

More light on the early Joneses of the Holywell area

(A later addition to Chapter 2)

The recent discovery of the gravestone of the parents of Robert Jones, surgeon, and the will of his father Thomas, have thrown much new light on the early generations of the Jones family in Holywell, and have confirmed some of the information which until now had been based only on reasonable assumptions.

The gravestone, discovered in the dense undergrowth on the derelict slopes of the original Holywell parish graveyard, has since been surveyed and recorded by the Clwyd Family History Society as the old graveyard is due to be cleared. It records the deaths of Thomas Jones and all his children by his wife Ann (formerly Totty). In chronological order these were: first, Robert I, Mary and Jane who died as infants between 1784, and 1801; secondly, Peter and John, who died in 1807 and 1816, both aged 21; thirdly, Robert II, surgeon, and his wife Mary Anne, who died on the dates already known to us in 1811 and 1812 respectively; and finally, Thomas Jones grocer, who died on 6 July 1830 aged 67. Ann Jones is not recorded on the gravestone, although there can be little doubt that she, too, was buried there at some date after her husband (see below). The burial entry for Peter Jones describes him as the son of Thomas Jones "by Ann his wife, formerly Ann Totty", thus establishing beyond doubt the identity of both of William Gresley Jones's grandparents. One further interesting point is that John, who died in 1816, is described as Thomas and Ann's only surviving son, so highlighting the fact that had it not been for William Gresley Jones's timely birth in 1810, the family would have died out completely.

The fact that Thomas and Ann Jones were the parents of Robert Jones, surgeon, also establishes beyond doubt the line of desceht for one generation further back still - that is, to Robert and Mary Jones who are named as the bridegroom's parents in the marriage entry for Thomas Jones and Ann Totty in 1784.

I have traced the will of Thomas Jones in the National Library of Wales. It was made in May 1825 and is full of interest, both genealogical and domestic.

Thomas, described as a "gentleman", left his dwelling house with his "shops, warehouse, gardens, outbuildings, yards and other premises" to his wife Ann for life, together with two seats in Holywell Church and a life annuity. He left leasehold property in Pen-y-Ball Street, Holywell, for life to "Robert Jones, natural son of my late father Robert Jones"; and all the rest of his estate, including farms at Northop and Gwaenysgor, to his grandson William Gresley Jones absolutely. William also received his grandfather's two pianofortes and his violin, which indicates that Thomas was a person of some musical accomplishment, as well as one of financial substance. The origin of William's early wealth (see Chapter 3) is therefore now apparent: he inherited it from his paternal grandparents. But how and when Thomas Jones came to acquire his substantial estate - valued at £7000 in 1830 - remains unclear, although there is some evidence that he may have purchased the Northop property from a Holywell solicitor between 1819 and 1825. The will also makes it clear that the large loans to the Mostyn and Bate families, on which William was receiving interest throughout the 1830s and 1810s, were made by Thomas Jones before 1825 because his will quotes them as securities for the annuity he left to his wife.

Probate of Thomas Jones's will was taken by Ann and two other executors in 1830, but it is not possible to say when Ann herself died because she left no will and there were at least three others of her name and possible age who died at Holywell within the next six years. She would, however, have been 76 or 77 in 1830, as her baptism entry has been traced to 16 December 1753. (She was therefore about two years older than she recorded on her marriage entry in 1784, and nearly ten years older than her husband.) After probate, a copy of the will was sent to "William Gresley Jones at Holywell", so confirming William's place of residence more or less up to the date of his first marriage.

What about Robert Jones, the father of Thomas? We now know that he had an illegitimate son named Robert, and the baptism register reveals the surprising fact that two illegitimate children named Robert Jones were born within a few months of each other in 1753, each having Robert Jones for its father. The name of the mother of one was Ann Hench, the other simply recorded as "Susan". The Holywell Vestry Minutes for 1752-54 confuse the situation even further: they mention Ann Hench's child but not that of "Susan", and then go on to refer to yet another woman as being the mother of an illegitimate child by "Robert Jones alias Robin Llofft" (a nickname). It is not possible to say which was the child referred to in Thomas Jones's later will. It seems clear, however, that it was accepted into the Jones family from the outset and also that Robert Jones did not marry its mother as his first wife. Robert, the illegitimate son, eventually died at Holywell in November 1825, aged 71.

The year 1753 - when Ann Totty and Robert Jones junior were baptised - is the earliest firm date in the history of the Holywell branch of the Jones family. It is now evident, however, that Robert senior could not have been born later than about 1736; and since he married again as late as 1761 it is very unlikely that he was born before 1710. An analysis of all the relevant baptism entries during that period indicates that his father was one of three people: William Jones (son Robert baptised in 1719); Thomas Jones (baptism in 1724); and Robert Jones (baptisms in 1730 and 1734), with the last-mentioned date rather unlikely as Robert was a widower when he married again in 1761. The registers also indicate that Robert Jones had brothers or cousins named William, Edward and Thomas (also a grocer), whose signatures appear on his marriage and other documents at later dates, as well as children of his own second marriage named Peter (baptised in 1762), Thomas (1763), Edward (1765) and William (1767). But in view of the defective nature of the Holywell registers for that period one cannot be completely sure of these relationships apart from Thomas. With the father of Robert Jones senior we arrive at the end of the 17th century and almost at the beginning of the surviving Holywell registers and further research is therefore not possible.

As for Robert Jones's occupation, civil and ecclesiastical records for 1750 or thereabouts show several of that name as resident in Holywell. One was a member of the Flintshire Quarter Sessions jury in 1749-51; a second was a schoolmaster; and a third was an innkeeper. A Robert Jones was also an overseer of the poor and churchwarden in 1754. One of these could have been Robert Jones or his father (if he was of the same name) but one cannot say more than that. The innkeeper who lived at the "King's Head" in Holywell High Street - one of the chief coaching inns in north-east Wales in the mid-18th century - appears to have died intestate around 1777, because in that year his widow Mary entered into an administration bond. Perhaps it was he who was Thomas Jones's father Robert, the husband of Mary Edwards, and the great-grandfather of William Gresley Jones.

October 1983.

Next: William Gresley Jones & his families