Sir Henry Jones, (30 November 1852 – 4 February 1922) was a Welsh philosopher and academic.

Biography

Jones was born in Llangernyw, now in

Conwy County Borough Conwy County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the north Wales, north of Wales. It borders Gwynedd to the west and south and Denbighshire to the east. The largest settlement is Colwyn Bay, and Conwy is the administrativ ...

, the son of a shoemaker. After working as an apprentice to his father, he studied at

Bangor Normal College The Normal College, Bangor () was an independent teacher training college, founded in 1858. It was created through the efforts of the British and Foreign School Society and the educator Sir Hugh Owen, and was funded by £11,000 raised through s ...

and became a teacher at

Brynamman Brynamman () is a village on the south side of the Black Mountain (range), Black Mountain (''Y Mynydd Du''), part of the Brecon Beacons National Park (''Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog''). The village is split into Upper Brynamman and Lower ...

. Having decided to enter the Presbyterian ministry, he went to the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

on a scholarship. After graduating, he obtained a fellowship, and went on to study at Oxford and in Germany. In 1882 he married Annie Walker, a Scotswoman, and later returned to live in Scotland. Jones was appointed a lecturer at the

University College, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 students studying across three academic facul ...

, in 1882, before becoming a professor at the

University College of North Wales, Bangor Bangor University () is a public research university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It was established by Royal Charter in 1885 as the University College of North Wales (UCNW; ), and in 1893 became one of the founding institutions of the federal ...

in 1884. In 1894, he became Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, where he remained until 1922. A Liberal and a friend of

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

, he was instrumental in the passing of the

Welsh Intermediate Education Act 1889 The Welsh Intermediate Education Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 40) was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It made various reforms with the intention of expanding access to secondary education in Wales. Background ...

, and worked for the establishment of the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

and the introduction of a penny rate for education. He was knighted in 1912 and was appointed

Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire. The orde ...

in 1922, shortly before his death. The Sir Henry Jones Memorial Prize (for

moral philosophy Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied et ...

), founded in 1934, is awarded annually in October.

Family

By his wife Annie, Jones had two daughters and four sons. A son and daughter died in youth. All their three surviving children fought in the First World War, the youngest of whom, Lieutenant Arthur Meredydd Jones, MC, was killed on active service in France. Another son, Captain James Walker Jones, DSO, spent much of his career in Burma. A third son, Lieutenant Elias Henry Jones, also served in Burma and became notorious for his escape from a Turkish prisoner of war camp in 1918.

Philosophy

Jones supported philosophical

idealism Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysics, metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, Spirit (vital essence), spirit, or ...

.Lindsay, A. D. (1926). ''The Idealism of Caird and Jones''. '' Journal of Philosophical Studies'' 1 (2): 171-182. His philosophy has been described by Daniel Davies as "essentially Caird's version of Hegelian idealism".

Works

*''Browning as a Philosophical and Religious Teacher'' (1891)
''A Critical Account of the Philosophy of Lotze''
(1895)
''The Immortality of the Soul in the Poems of Tennyson and Browning''
the Essex Hall Lecture for 1905 (1907) also online as a PDF file from th
''Unitarians UK website''

''Idealism as a Practical Creed''
(1909)
''The Working Faith of the Social Reformer: and other essays''
(1910)
''Social Powers: three popular lectures on the environment, the press and the pulpit''
(1913)
''The Principles of Citizenship''
(1919)
''The Life and Philosophy of Edward Caird''
joint author with J H Muirhead (1921)
''A Faith that Enquires''

Gifford Lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford at the four ancient universities of Scotland: St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Their purpose is to "pro ...

(1922)
''Old Memories: An Autobiography''
edited by Thomas Jones (1923)
''Essays on Literature and Education''
edited by H J W Hetherington (undated but perhaps 1924). See also ''The Life and Letters of Sir Henry Jones'' by H J W Hetherington (1925) - further information online as a PDF file fro
''Cardiff University website''

References

External links

* *
''Henry Jones''
biographical notes and download available from the

website
Sir Henry Jones Museum

Sir Henry Jones Papers at Glasgow University ArchivesPortrait of Sir Henry Jones
in the

Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

of the

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Henry 1852 births 1922 deaths Idealists Welsh philosophers Llangernyw Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Knights Bachelor Fellows of the British Academy 20th-century British philosophers 20th-century Welsh writers 19th-century British philosophers 19th-century Welsh writers Alumni of the University of Glasgow Academics of Bangor University Academics of the University of St Andrews Academics of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of Oxford