Sir Thomas Jones KS (13 October 1614 – 31 May 1692) was an English judge and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1660 to 1676. Jones was the second son of Edward Jones and his wife Mary Powell, daughter of Robert Powell of Whittington Park. He was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by royal charter, to replace the town's Saxon collegiate foundations which were disestablished in the sixteenth century, Shrewsb ...

before being admitted to

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

, as a pensioner on 9 May 1629. On 6 May of the same year he became a student of

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

, and was called to the bar on 17 March 1634, two years after finishing his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree. His career began in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

, where he was elected

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

in 1638.History of Parliament Online - Jones, Thomas
/ref> During the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

was a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

garrison and Prince Rupert stayed at Jones's house. Jones was taken prisoner when the town was captured by the Parliamentarians in February 1645, the commissioners for corporations later stated that "he had declared himself against the

commission of array A commission of array was a commission given by English sovereigns to officers or gentry in a given territory to muster and array the inhabitants and to see them in a condition for war, or to put soldiers of a country in a condition for military ...

" and "refused to find a dragoon for the King’s service". In 1660, Jones was elected Member of Parliament for

in the 1660 Convention parliament, together with his cousin

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

. The day following the election he became town clerk for Shrewsbury and served until 1662. Also in 1660, he was made a Bencher at Lincoln's Inn. He was re-elected MP for Shrewsbury in 1661 for the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. With the exception of the Long Parliament, it was the longest-lasting English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring ...

. During this time he was inactive in Westminster, and instead furthered his legal career in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and the

Marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a state's "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diffe ...

. Between 1662 and 1670 he served on Eyre circuits of Northern Wales, and in 1669 he was made a Serjeant-at-law. In 1671 he was made Chief Justice of the North Wales circuit. The same year he was promoted to King's Serjeant and knighted on 26 October. On 13 April 1676, Jones was rewarded for his service in Parliament by being made a justice of the

King's Bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court of common law in t ...

. In 1678, as one of the Popish plot judges, he drove hard for the conviction of Edward Coleman, but later clearly indicated his belief in

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

' innocence. In 1680, the House of Commons attempted to have him impeached, but the start of the second Exclusion Parliament prevented this. In 1681 and 1683 he helped try the conspirators in the

Popish Plot The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinat ...

, and appears to have initially believed

Titus Oates Titus Oates (15 September 1649 – 12/13 July 1705) was an English priest who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II. Early life Titus Oates was born at Oakham in Rutland. His father was the Baptis ...

and other informers before changing his mind. Jones was the judge in the 1683 ''

Quo warranto In the English-American common law, ''quo warranto'' (Medieval Latin for "by what warrant?") is a prerogative writ issued by a court which orders someone to show what authority they have for exercising some right, power, or franchise they clai ...

'' trial against the

Corporation of London The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's fi ...

, and was rewarded on 29 September 1683 by succeeding

Francis Pemberton Sir Francis Pemberton (18 July 1624 – 10 June 1697) was an English judge and briefly Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench in the course of a turbulent career. He was imprisoned three times at various points in his career, and as a judge is ...

Chief Justice of the Common Pleas The chief justice of the common pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench, which was the second-highest common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body ...

. He was one of the judges appointed to the Court of Claims prior to the

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

of James II in 1684. Although he continued to display severity when handing out judgements in subsequent trials, he eventually found himself unable to follow the King's wishes, and along with three other judges was dismissed on 21 April 1686; he was appointed due to his severity and then removed, ironically, because he was not severe enough. He returned home to

Carreghofa Carreghofa () is a Community (Wales), community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales, and is 89.6 miles (144.2 km) from Cardiff and 153.6 miles (247.2 km) from London. In 2011 the population of Carreghofa was 667 with 10.2% of them able to ...

, Montgomeryshire, where he died on 31 May 1692 aged 77. Jones married Jane Bavand, daughter of Daniel Bavand of Chester, around 1640, and they had five sons and six daughters. His son, Edward Jones became a Canon of Windsor.''Fasti Wyndesorienses'', May 1950. S.L. Ollard. Published by the Dean and Canons of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Thomas 1614 births 1692 deaths Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Chief justices of the common pleas English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 Justices of the King's Bench Knights Bachelor Serjeants-at-law (England)