Daniel Elwyn Jones is a British artist, collector of children's playground songs and human rights campaigner. He is an education advisor for the human rights organisation

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

Amnesty International

Jones is one of

's longest-term supporters, having assisted

Peter Benenson Peter Benenson (born Peter James Henry Solomon; 31 July 1921 – 25 February 2005) was a British barrister, human rights activist and the founder of the human rights group Amnesty International (AI); a global movement of more than 10 million pe ...

and his father, Elwyn Jones, to help launch Amnesty in 1961 which at the time they believed to be an ambitious one-year campaign. He was awarded an MBE in 2001 for services to international human rights, and was nominated as a local hero and reached the finals of the 14th Pride of Britain Awards. He continues to work for Amnesty. In his current role as an education advisor he visits schools and speaks to students to help educate in the fundamentals of human rights.

Art

Jones has produced paintings, murals, political posters and banners for trade unions and local causes, as well as illustrating two books of

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fr ...

s, ''Inky, Pinky, Ponky'' and ''Mother Goose comes to Cable Street''. Many of his paintings and

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

depict East End life and capture much of the social and political history of the area over the last 50 years. Jones's subjects include political demonstrations from East End history up to the present, from the

Poplar Rates Rebellion The Poplar Rates Rebellion, or Poplar Rates Revolt, was a tax protest that took place in the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar, England, in 1921. It was led by George Lansbury, the previous year's Labour Mayor of Poplar, with the support of the P ...

of 1921, the Blair Peach funeral march in 1979, to the anniversary of the

Battle of Cable Street The Battle of Cable Street was a series of clashes that took place at several locations in the East End of London, most notably Cable Street, on Sunday 4 October 1936. It was a clash between the Metropolitan Police, sent to protect a march ...

in 1996. Jones instigated the creation of the Cable Street Mural, whilst Secretary of the Tower Hamlets Trades Council. He is featured in '' East End Vernacular, Artists Who Painted London's East End Streets in the 20th Century''.

Playground songs

Jones has been an avid collector of children's playground songs, over many decades. In 2018 he lodged his collection at the

British Library Sound Archive The British Library Sound Archive, formerly the British Institute of Recorded Sound; also known as the National Sound Archive (NSA), in London, England is among the largest collections of recorded sound in the world, including music, spoken word ...

. His collection was a long-term exhibit at the V&A Museum of Childhood and he has given a number of talks and interviews on the subject, including a contribution to the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

programme ''A Sailor Went to Sea Sea Sea''.

Family life

Jones is the son of the artist Pearl "Polly" Binder and the barrister and Labour politician, Elwyn Jones. He was educated at

Leighton Park School Leighton Park School is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading, Berkshire, Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having ...

. He has two sisters, Josephine and Lou.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Dan Members of the Order of the British Empire British artists Living people 1940 births Sons of life peers