John Islan Jones (17 February 1874 – 28 May 1968) was a Welsh Unitarian minister, academic and writer.

Life

Jones was born on 17 February 1874 in

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 ...

, south Wales. He was educated locally in Cribyn and Llanwnnen, studying with the poet David Thomas ("Dewi Hefin") until he was about 10 years old. He then worked as a farm servant and a stonemason until 1896, when he attended a school in Cribyn run by a Unitarian minister called David Evans, leaving in 1898 with a scholarship to

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...

. After graduating in 1901, he transferred to

Manchester College, Oxford Harris Manchester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded in Warrington in 1757 as a college for Unitarian students and moved to Oxford in 1893. It became a full college of th ...

to study for ordination. He won a scholarship to

Marburg University The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

and

Jena University The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

, but illness meant that he had to leave Germany before his doctorate was complete. He was a Unitarian minister in

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

from 1906 to 1909, Bolton from 1909 to 1917 and Hindley from 1917 to 1939. He then retired to Wales, but was asked in 1945 to become Principal of Carmarthen Presbyterian College, a post he held until 1948. His writings included ''A brief history of the Unitarian Church, Accrington'' (1909), ' (1948), and a prize-winning volume of reminiscences, ' (1958). He died on 28 May 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, John Islan 1874 births 1968 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Alumni of Harris Manchester College, Oxford Welsh Unitarians 20th-century Unitarian clergy Welsh non-fiction writers Welsh scholars and academics Welsh-speaking clergy