Life

Jones was the son of Edward Jones by Charlotte Elizabeth Stephens, was born in Piccadilly, London, in 1806. His father was second son of Captain Thomas Jones of Wrexham

Wrexham

Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...

, who adopted the additional name of Longueville on succeeding to a portion of the Longueville estates in Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

. Jones was educated at a private school at Ealing

Ealing

Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...

, whence he proceeded to St. John's College, Cambridge, but subsequently migrated to Magdalene College, where he graduated B.A. in 1828 (being seventh wrangler) and M.A. in 1832. He was elected fellow of his college, and held the offices of lecturer and dean, took holy orders in 1829, and for a short period was curate of Connington in the diocese of Ely

Diocese of Ely

The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely. There is one suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon. The diocese now covers Cambridgeshire and western Norfolk...

, but does not seem to have undertaken further clerical duty. Soon after 1834 he settled in Paris, where he is said to have edited a reissue of 'Galignani's Paris Guide.'

Jones interested himself in the reform of university education, and in 1836 a paper of his was read before the Statistical Society of Manchester, urging the inhabitants to establish in their town a university college in connection with the university of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

. The suggestion was not acted upon, but on Jones's return from France he started a college of his own in Manchester; this, however, met with little success, and was shortly afterwards abandoned, though it prepared the way for the establishment of Owens College in 1851. Before 1846 Jones moved to Beaumaris, and in 1849 was appointed inspector of schools for the whole of Wales. His work was lessened subsequently by the appointment, first of an assistant and then of a separate inspector. Ill-health compelled his retirement about 1864. After some years' residence in Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

 he settled in Kensington, London, where he died 10 November 1870. Jones married in 1834 Frances, second daughter of Robert Plowden Weston of Shropshire.

While he resided at Beaumaris Jones issued, in January 1846, with the assistance of the Rev. John Williams (ab Ithel), the first number of a periodical which he entitled 'Archæologia Cambrensis.' The publication led to the expression of a desire for the establishment of an association to study Welsh archæology. Jones accordingly organised a meeting at Aberystwith in September 1847, and the Cambrian Archæological Association was then founded. The production of the journal caused Jones serious loss, and after the fourth volume it was taken over, in 1850, by the association, when a new series was commenced, but Jones continued editor until his last, illness. It contains many articles by him, and several of his drawings, particularly of cromlechs and inscribed stones.

Works

• Illustrations of the Natural Scenery of the Snowdonian Mountains, accompanied by a description of the County of Carnarvon, London, 1829, fol.
• Plan of a University for the town of Manchester, 58 pp., Manchester, 1836, 8vo.
• Memorials of Cambridge, with Historical and Descriptive Accounts, 2 vols., 1841, 8vo. This was written by him and Thomas Wright, and published by the engraver Le Keux.
• Essays and papers on literary and historical subjects, reprinted from 'Blackwood's Magazine' and other periodicals, London, 1870, 8vo.