David Jones (July 1796 – 1 May 1841) was a pioneering

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. A gifted

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, he was noted for establishing the

orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...

of the Malagasy language and for his translation of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

into Malagasy, a work that he undertook with fellow missionary David Griffiths.Gerald H. Anderson,'' Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999. p.336 ,

Life and work

David Jones was born in Penrhiw, near Neuaddlwyd,

Cardiganshire Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

. He studied under Thomas Phillips at the Neuaddlwyd Academy and later at

Llanfyllin Llanfyllin ( – ) is a market town, community and electoral ward in a sparsely populated area in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Llanfyllin's community population in 2011 was 1,532, of whom 34.1% could speak Welsh. Llanfyllin means ''church or p ...

. At 16, he offered himself for service with the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational miss ...

(LMS) and was sent to

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

for training, with his friend Thomas Bevan. He was ordained at Neuaddlwyd on 20 and 21 August 1817. He married Lucy Darby born 31 March 1795 of Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire her father John Tomes Darby and mother Ann Acox (his 2nd wife) would after about 1801 move from Gloucestershire to Alverstoke Parish in Gosport; it was here on 27 December 1817 that Lucy Darby would marry David Jones (I am in possession of their marriage certificate) (David Griffiths I believe simply got her name wrong in using the name Louisa he did not arrive in Mauritius to work with David Jones until 1821 so would never have met Lucy); Lucy Jones had died in 1818 along with her baby daughter Anna. When he first arrived in Port Louis in 1818 he & Lucy would lodge with the family of Jean Joseph Mabille (my 4th great grandparents) indeed baby Anna was born at Maison Mabille 24 August 1818. David Jones would have met at this time Anne Marie Mabille the lady who became his 2nd wife on 20 July 1821, in Port Louis; they would name their first child born about 1823 in Madagascar Lucy. David Jones would maintain a lifelong association with Lucy Darby's family in Gosport (I am in possession of several of these letters). David Jones & Marie Anne Mabille would have five children including Lucy their first I believe after his first wife who died so tradgically soon after they had arrived in Madagascar. David Jones & Marie Anne Mabille his wife were in Montgomeryshire, Wales visiting various Parishes for fund raising for the Madagacar Mission this is where their son John David Jones was born on 3 March 1832. Directed by the LMS to serve in Madagascar, Jones and Bevan with their families landed at

Tamatave Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ...

from

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

in September 1818. There, he was laid low with

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, from which his wife and child died. Bevan, his wife and child also died. He gave himself to educational and religious work among the Malagasy population, opening a number of schools. He settled at

Antananarivo Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "An ...

in 1820. By 1828, there were 37 schools, 44 teachers, and 2,309 students. A "Malagasy Schooling Society" was established and King Radama 1 took great personal interest in it. In consultation with the king, Jones devised an orthographic system for the Malagasy language. In conjunction with David Griffiths, Jones translated the Bible into Malagasy. With the help of David Johns, he also published a spelling book, a

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

and a

hymnary A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chri ...

. Following the king's death, Christianity in Madagascar was banned in 1835, with some Christians being martyred. Jones returned to Mauritius, which he used as a base for evangelisation. Suffering from malaria, he died there in 1841.

References

Works by David Jones

* ''Abstract of a Journey of Mr. David Jones, Missionary at Madagascar, Containing a Brief Account of his Journey to the Capital of Radama, &c.'' Transactions of the London Missionary Society, October 1821.

Biographies

* William Edward Cousins, ''David Jones: The Pioneer of Protestant Missions in Madagascar''. London: London Missionary Society, c.1908. * Ernest Henry Hayes, ''David Jones: Founder of the Church in Madagascar''. London: Capsey, 1933. * Joyce Reason,'' Storm over Madagascar: David Jones''. London: Carrgate Press, 1937.

External links

* Video: {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, David 1796 births 1841 deaths Welsh Congregationalist missionaries Congregationalist missionaries in Madagascar Translators of the Bible into Malagasy British expatriates in Madagascar 19th-century translators Malagasy-language writers People from Ceredigion Missionary linguists