Cylchgronau Cymru

BRYCHEINIOG THEOPHILUS JONES, F.S.A., 1759-1812 THE HISTORIAN AND HIS FAMILY By T. RHYS JONES, Headmaster of St. Peter's School, Harefield, Nr. Exmouth INTRODUCTION IN undertaking to write a biographical sketch of our county historian, I am very conscious that this has already been done, far more ably than I could hope to do, by the late Miss Gwenllian Morgan. It has therefore seemed best to me to employ a somewhat different approach and to try to interpret what has already been published in the light of his letters and other papers and then to set the resulting picture into the framework of his immediate family. Some portraits illustrating this article and the two genealogical tables have not been published before and I think much of the information concerning his descendants will be new to most readers. I have deliberately tried to avoid quoting long extracts from Miss Morgan's work, but here and there this course has seemed necessary or desirable. I was fortunate in meeting Miss Morgan personally when I visited Brecon in 1922 and again in 1928, and we corresponded regularly for upwards of 11 years, from 1922 to 1933. I can never be sufficiently grateful for her help and advice in my researches into family history. I was also fortunate in seeing Theo. Jones's house in Lion Street, when it was the home of the late Dr. Thomas. I am not a professional writer, though writing is often part of my profession! And so, with grateful thanks to those who have helped me both in compiling this sketch and in my enquiries over many years, I submit the result of what has been to me a most rewarding task. I. THEOPHILUS JONES, f.s.a.— THE HISTORIAN HIMSELF THEOPHILUS Jones was born in Lion Street, Brecon, on 18th October 1759, and was baptized at St. Mary's Church, Brecon, which then had the status of a chapel of ease to the Priory Church, on 8th November following.