William Jones (Beaumaris)
Encyclopedia
Sir William Jones was a Welsh judge, and a Member of Parliament
(MP) for the Welsh Borough of Beaumaris
.
He entered Furnival's Inn
five years later, was admitted a member of Lincoln's Inn
on 5 July 1587, and called to the bar there on 28 January 1595. He was Lent reader of the inn in 1616 and was made a serjeant
and knight on 14 March 1617; on 13 May of the same year he was appointed Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland
, in succession to Sir John Dutton, transferred to the English court of exchequer. While the Irish chancellorship was vacant he was a commissioner of the great seal.
He was a Member of Parliament three times for Beaumaris (1597, 1604 and 1614) and for Caernarvonshire
in 1601.
In 1620 he resigned his judgeship, and returned to the English bar. His name occurs in his own and in George Croke's ‘Reports’ from Michaelmas 1620 to Michaelmas 1621. On 25 September 1621 he was appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas
, and on 20 March 1622 was selected as a member of a commission to go to Ireland. He complained to Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex
that the commissioners refused to recognise him as a judge, or entitled to any precedence on the commission, and that he was placed junior on it. While in Ireland, upon the complaint of the general body of suitors, he revised the scale of costs in the Dublin courts . He remained a member of the Irish commission at any rate till November 1623.
On 6 August 1623 he was appointed a member of the council of Wales, in January of the following year was a member of another Irish commission, and on 17 October 1624 was transferred from the Common Pleas to the Court of King's Bench. As a member of the Star Chamber
he appears to have been in favour of leniency, at least in the cases of Lord Morley and Sir Henry Mayne; but in 1627 he was one of the judges who refused to admit Sir John Eliot and his companions to bail (28 November). He was one of the judges who tried Eliot, Denzil Holles and Benjamin Valentine
in 1630, and he delivered the judgment of the court.
In 1636 he signed an opinion in favour of ship money
and in 1638 he gave judgment for its legality. He died at his house in Holborn
on 9 December 1640, and was buried in Lincoln's Inn Chapel. Sir Robert Heath.
in his Curious Discourses prints a paper by Jones on the early Britons, read before the Society of Antiquaries
in Elizabeth I's reign, and calls him a person of learning in British antiquities. Jones's ‘Reports of Cases from 18 James I to 15 Charles I’ appeared in 1675.
. His sons Charles
reader at Lincoln's Inn, and William were also MPs.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for the Welsh Borough of Beaumaris
Beaumaris (UK Parliament constituency)
Beaumaris was a parliamentary borough in Anglesey, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1553, then to the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and to the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885, when the constituency...
.
Life
From a family settled in North Wales, he was eldest son of William Jones of Castellmarch, Carnarvonshire, by Margaret, daughter of Humphry Wynn ap Meredith of Hyssoilfarch. Educated at first at Beaumaris free school, he went at the age of fourteen to St Edmund's Hall, Oxford, where he did not graduate.He entered Furnival's Inn
Furnival's Inn
Furnival's Inn was an Inn of Chancery which formerly stood on the site of the present Holborn Bars building in Holborn, London, England.-History:...
five years later, was admitted a member of Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
on 5 July 1587, and called to the bar there on 28 January 1595. He was Lent reader of the inn in 1616 and was made a serjeant
Serjeant-at-law
The Serjeants-at-Law was an order of barristers at the English bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law , or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France prior to the Norman Conquest...
and knight on 14 March 1617; on 13 May of the same year he was appointed Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland
Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland
The Court of King's Bench was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England...
, in succession to Sir John Dutton, transferred to the English court of exchequer. While the Irish chancellorship was vacant he was a commissioner of the great seal.
He was a Member of Parliament three times for Beaumaris (1597, 1604 and 1614) and for Caernarvonshire
Caernarvonshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Caernarvonshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885 and from 1918 until 1950. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post...
in 1601.
In 1620 he resigned his judgeship, and returned to the English bar. His name occurs in his own and in George Croke's ‘Reports’ from Michaelmas 1620 to Michaelmas 1621. On 25 September 1621 he was appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas
Court of Common Pleas (England)
The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...
, and on 20 March 1622 was selected as a member of a commission to go to Ireland. He complained to Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex
Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex
Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex was a successful merchant in London, England.-Life:He was the second son of Thomas Cranfield, a mercer at London, and his wife Martha Randill, the daughter and heiress of Vincent Randill of Sutton-at-Hone, Kent. He was apprenticed in to Richard Sheppard, a...
that the commissioners refused to recognise him as a judge, or entitled to any precedence on the commission, and that he was placed junior on it. While in Ireland, upon the complaint of the general body of suitors, he revised the scale of costs in the Dublin courts . He remained a member of the Irish commission at any rate till November 1623.
On 6 August 1623 he was appointed a member of the council of Wales, in January of the following year was a member of another Irish commission, and on 17 October 1624 was transferred from the Common Pleas to the Court of King's Bench. As a member of the Star Chamber
Star Chamber
The Star Chamber was an English court of law that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster until 1641. It was made up of Privy Counsellors, as well as common-law judges and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity courts in both civil and criminal matters...
he appears to have been in favour of leniency, at least in the cases of Lord Morley and Sir Henry Mayne; but in 1627 he was one of the judges who refused to admit Sir John Eliot and his companions to bail (28 November). He was one of the judges who tried Eliot, Denzil Holles and Benjamin Valentine
Benjamin Valentine
Benjamin Valentine , was an English parliamentarian.Valentine was probably a native of Cheshire. He was elected on 3 March 1627–1628 to represent the borough of St. Germans in the parliament of 1628–9. He was in the House of Commons on 2 March 1628–9 when Speaker Finch would have obeyed King...
in 1630, and he delivered the judgment of the court.
In 1636 he signed an opinion in favour of ship money
Ship money
Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...
and in 1638 he gave judgment for its legality. He died at his house in Holborn
Holborn
Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...
on 9 December 1640, and was buried in Lincoln's Inn Chapel. Sir Robert Heath.
Works
Thomas HearneThomas Hearne
Thomas Hearne or Hearn , English antiquary, was born at Littlefield Green in the parish of White Waltham, Berkshire.-Life:...
in his Curious Discourses prints a paper by Jones on the early Britons, read before the Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
in Elizabeth I's reign, and calls him a person of learning in British antiquities. Jones's ‘Reports of Cases from 18 James I to 15 Charles I’ appeared in 1675.
Family
He married in 1587 Margaret, eldest daughter of Griffith ap John Griffith of Kevenamulch, Carnarvonshire and secondly, Catherine, daughter of Thomas Powys of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, widow of Dr. Robert HovendenRobert Hovenden
Robert Hovenden D.D. was an English academic administrator at the University of Oxford.Hovenden was elected Warden of All Souls College, Oxford in 1571, a post he held until 1614....
. His sons Charles
Charles Jones (MP for Beaumaris)
Charles Jones was a Welsh lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1640.Jones was the son of Sir William Jones and his wife Margaret Griffith, daughter of Griffith ap John Griffith of Kevenamulch, Carnarvonshire. His father was a judge and MP. Jones...
reader at Lincoln's Inn, and William were also MPs.