Richard Jones (born c. 1578) was a Welsh 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 ...

between 1628 and 1640. He supported the

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 ...

cause in 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 ...

. Jones was the son or grandson of Griffith Jones of Trewern.W R Williams ''The Parliamentary History of the Principality of Wales''
/ref> He was elected High Sheriff of Radnorshire for either 1614 or 1617. In 1628 he was elected Member of Parliament for

Radnorshire Radnorshire () was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974, later becoming a Districts of Wales, district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populat ...

and held the seat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. In April 1640, Jones was elected MP for Radnor in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on 20 February 1640 and sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640. It was so called because of its short session of only three weeks. After 11 years of per ...

. He was a commissioner of array for King Charles in 1642 and issued warrants for raising money for the King's forces. In October 1645 he submitted to parliament and begged to compound on 22 March 1647. His fine was set at £144 on 2 June 1648, but he petitioned that he only had an estate for life in £48 per annum and the fine was reduced to £73. On 27 May 1652 he was exempted and it was ordered that he be left to enjoy his estate. He married Margaret, the daughter of John Price of Pilleth, who bore him 2 sons, both of whom predeceased him.

References

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Richard 1570s births 17th-century deaths Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales 17th-century Welsh politicians Cavaliers English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) High sheriffs of Radnorshire