David Lewis Jones (4 January 1945 – 15 October 2010) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

who was the librarian of the

House of Lords Library The House of Lords Library is the library and information resource of the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides Members of the House and their staff with books, Parliamentary material and reference ...

from 1991 to 2006.

Early life and education

Jones was born in Riversdale,

Aberaeron Aberaeron (), previously anglicised as Aberayron, is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales. Located on the coast between Aberystwyth and Cardigan, its resident population was 1,274 in the 2021 census. The name of the town i ...

Cardiganshire Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Ab ...

, to Gwilym and Joyce Jones. He was educated at Aberaeron Grammar School and read history at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

Career

Librarian

Jones began his career as an assistant librarian at the

Institute of Historical Research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hou ...

in London, 1970–72, before returning to Wales for five years as the

law librarian A law library is a specialist library used by law students, lawyers, judges and their legal assistants, and academics in order to research the law or its history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on t ...

at the

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

, 1972–77. In 1977, Lord Elwyn-Jones,

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

in the Labour Government, recruited Jones to fill the post of deputy librarian of the

. This followed a report by a working group, led by

David Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles David McAdam Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles (18 September 1904 – 24 February 1999), was an English Conservative politician and businessman. Background Eccles was born in London. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, w ...

, that recommended creating a research service, hiring qualified librarians for the first time, acquiring updated books, and "dipping a toe in

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

". From 1977 to 1991, Jones, the first qualified librarian to serve in the post of deputy librarian, assisted Roger Morgan in transforming the librarian to modern standards. Working directly with Eccles, Jones oversaw the installation of the Geac ADVANCE multiuser integrated online library system "incorporating acquisitions,

cataloguing In library and information science, cataloging ( US) or cataloguing ( UK) is the process of creating metadata representing information resources, such as books, sound recordings, moving images, etc. Cataloging provides information such as aut ...

and serials control features and online access to that catalogue." Jones also created a significant programme for the conservation and cataloguing of the library's historic collections. Jones succeeded Morgan as librarian in 1991 and continued to work to modernize the library, cooperating with the

House of Commons Library The House of Commons Library is the library and information resource of the lower house of the British Parliament. It was established in 1818, although its original 1828 construction was destroyed during the burning of Parliament in 1834. Th ...

in developing shared online systems. Over his 15 years as librarian, he oversaw expansion of the library's holdings and tripled its staff from 10 to 30 by bringing highly qualified research clerks, librarians and secretarial staff to meet the increased demand from the Lords for quick access to research and information. In 1999, Jones contributed to add upgrades to the working law library for the Law Lords at the Palace of Westminster's West Front. Morgan was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2005 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2005 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2005 to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2005. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged first by the cou ...

, in anticipation of his retirement. He retired in 2006 and was succeeded by Elizabeth Hallam-Smith.

Historian

David Lewis Jones was a prolific historian, biographer and bibliographer. He contributed several entries for the

biographical dictionaries A biographical dictionary is a type of encyclopedic dictionary limited to biographical information. Many attempt to cover the major personalities of a country (with limitations, such as living persons only, in ''Who's Who'', or deceased people ...

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'' and the ''

Dictionary of Welsh Biography The ''Dictionary of Welsh Biography'' (DWB) (also ''The Dictionary of Welsh Biography Down to 1940'' and ''The Dictionary of Welsh Biography, 1941 to 1970'') is a biographical dictionary of Welsh people who have made a significant contribution to ...

'', and authored a book on

Eirene White, Baroness White Eirene Lloyd White, Baroness White (née Jones; 7 November 1909 – 23 December 1999) was a British Labour politician and journalist. Early life White was born in Belfast, the daughter of Dr Thomas Jones, commonly known as "TJ", a noted civ ...

. From 1994 to 1996, he served as secretary to the

Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (), often called simply the Cymmrodorion, is a London-based Wales, Welsh learned society, with membership open to all. It was first established in 1751 as a Social club, social, cultural, literary society, l ...

. In 1996, he was admitted to the

Gorsedd Gorsedd Cymru (), or simply the Gorsedd (), is a society of Welsh-language poets, writers, musicians and others who have contributed to the Welsh language and to public life in Wales. Its aim is to honour such individuals and help develop and p ...

at the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

Llandeilo Llandeilo () is a town and Community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated where the River Towy is crossed by the A483 road, A483 on a 19th-century stone bridge. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the community had ...

for his services for Welsh culture.

Death

He died in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

, London, following surgery, at age 65.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, David Lewis 1945 births 2010 deaths People from Aberaeron Welsh librarians 20th-century Welsh historians Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Welsh bibliographers 21st-century Welsh historians