John Jones Maesygarnedd (c. 1597 – 17 October 1660) was a
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
military leader and politician, known as one of the
regicide
Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...
s of King
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
following the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
. A brother-in-law of
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
, Jones was a
Parliamentarian and an avid
republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
at a time when most of Wales was
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
, and became one of 57 commissioners that signed the
death warrant
An execution warrant (also called death warrant or black warrant) is a writ that authorizes the execution of a condemned person. An execution warrant is not to be confused with a " license to kill", which operates like an arrest warrant bu ...
authorising the
execution of Charles I
The execution of Charles I by beheading occurred on Tuesday, 30 January 1649 outside the Banqueting House on Whitehall. The execution was the culmination of political and military conflicts between the royalists and the parliamentarians in Eng ...
following his trial. After the
Restoration of the monarchy, Jones was one of few excluded from the
general amnesty
Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offic ...
in the
Indemnity and Oblivion Act
The Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660 was an Act of the Parliament of England (12 Cha. II c. 11), the long title of which is "An Act of Free and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion". This act was a general pardon for everyone who had committe ...
, and was tried, found guilty, then
hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered became a statutory penalty for men convicted of high treason in the Kingdom of England from 1352 under Edward III of England, King Edward III (1327–1377), although similar rituals are recorded during the rei ...
at
Charing Cross
Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...
.
Biography
![Close up of Maes-y-Garnedd - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Close_up_of_Maes-y-Garnedd_-_geograph.org.uk_-_220561.jpg)
John Jones was born, in about 1597, the son of Thomas ab John or Jones, and Ellen, daughter of Robert Wynn ap Jevan
esq.
Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title.
In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman a ...
of Taltreuddyn, at Maes-y-Garnedd (or Maesygarnedd),
Llanbedr
Llanbedr () is a village and community south of Harlech. Administratively, it lies in the Ardudwy area, formerly Meirionnydd, of the county of Gwynedd, Wales.
History
Ancient monuments at Llanbedr include Neolithic standing stones; the St ...
in
Merionethshire
, HQ= Dolgellau
, Government= Merionethshire County Council (1889-1974)
, Origin=
, Status=
, Start= 1284
, End=
, Code= MER
, CodeName= ...
, Wales. Jones is often surnamed as Maesygarnedd, after the location of his residence in
North Wales
, area_land_km2 = 6,172
, postal_code_type = Postcode
, postal_code = LL, CH, SY
, image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg
, map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...
, and spoke
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
with his family. During the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, Jones served in the
Parliamentarian forces in Wales, and was described as a
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
in 1646 while negotiating the surrender of
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
in June 1646. In 1648, Jones helped to suppress Sir
John Owen's rising, and was thanked by the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
for his share in the reconquest of Anglesey, and was voted £2,000 on account of his
arrears
Arrears (or arrearage) is a legal term for the part of a debt that is overdue after missing one or more required payments. The amount of the arrears is the amount accrued from the date on which the first missed payment was due. The term is usually ...
of pay. He was returned to the
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...
in about 1647 for
Merionethshire
, HQ= Dolgellau
, Government= Merionethshire County Council (1889-1974)
, Origin=
, Status=
, Start= 1284
, End=
, Code= MER
, CodeName= ...
.
Following the end of the war, Jones was selected as
one of the judges of King
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
, and attended the trial with great regularity. Jones was the forty-second signatory of the fifty-seven commissioners that signed the
death warrant
An execution warrant (also called death warrant or black warrant) is a writ that authorizes the execution of a condemned person. An execution warrant is not to be confused with a " license to kill", which operates like an arrest warrant bu ...
that effectively authorised the
execution of the King. After execution, Jones was elected a member of the first two
Councils of State of the
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execut ...
In July 1650, Jones was voted one of the commissioners to assist the
lord deputy
The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland. The plural form is '' ...
in the government of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, and was reappointed for two years longer on 24 August 1652. His colleague,
Edmund Ludlow
Edmund Ludlow (c. 1617–1692) was an English parliamentarian, best known for his involvement in the execution of Charles I, and for his ''Memoirs'', which were published posthumously in a rewritten form and which have become a major source f ...
, described him as "discharging his trust with great diligence, ability, and integrity, in providing for the happiness of that country, and bringing to justice those who had been concerned in the murders of English Protestants".
Jones was a strong
republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, and was greatly dissatisfied at
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
's assumption of
the Protectorate
The Protectorate, officially the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, refers to the period from 16 December 1653 to 25 May 1659 during which England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and associated territories were joined together in the Com ...
.
Henry Cromwell
Henry Cromwell (20 January 1628 – 23 March 1674) was the fourth son of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Bourchier, and an important figure in the Parliamentarian regime in Ireland.
Biography Early life
Henry Cromwell – the fourth son of Oli ...
describes him as "endeavouring to render the government unacceptable", but "more cunning and close" in his opposition than Ludlow. He was accordingly set aside, and when in March 1656, there was a rumour that Jones was to be again employed in the Irish government, Henry Cromwell remonstrated with Thurloe against the choice, asserting that he was not only factious and disaffected, but "had acted very corruptly in his place". By this time a marriage had been arranged between Jones and Oliver Cromwell's sister, Catherine,
widow
A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died.
Terminology
The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...
of Roger Whitstone, "When I writ to you about Colonel Jones", explained Henry Cromwell. "I did not know that he was likely to be my uncle. Perhaps that may serve to oblige him to faithfulness to his highness and government".
In the
First Protectorate Parliament
The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the Hou ...
(1656), Jones returned for the counties of Merionethshire and
Denbighshire
Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...
, choosing to sit for Merionethshire. In the ''Second Narrative of the late Parliament'', Jones is described as originally "one of good principles for common justice and freedom ... lately married the Protector's sister, by which means he might have become a great man indeed, did not something stick which he cannot well get down. He is not thorough-paced for the court proceedings, nor is his conscience fully hardened against the good old cause". Jones was summoned to Oliver
Cromwell's Other House
The Other House (also referred to as the Upper House, House of Peers and House of Lords), established by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Humble Petition and Advice, was one of the two chambers of the parliaments that legis ...
in December 1657, but held no office except that of governor of the Isle of Anglesey. On 2 June 1657, Parliament voted giving Jones lands in Ireland to the value of £3,000, for arrears of pay amounting to that sum. He was still so far trusted by the republicans that on 7 May 1659, Jones was appointed one of the
Committee of Safety, and on 14 May one of the Council of State. An act was passed making Jones and others commissioners for the government of Ireland on 7 July, and Jones landed in Ireland with Ludlow in July 1659. When Ludlow returned to England in October, he selected Jones to command the Irish forces during his absence. To Ludlow's disgust, Jones and most of the Irish officers supported
John Lambert John Lambert may refer to:
*John Lambert (martyr) (died 1538), English Protestant martyred during the reign of Henry VIII
*John Lambert (general) (1619–1684), Parliamentary general in the English Civil War
* John Lambert of Creg Clare (''fl.'' c. ...
and the army in their quarrel with parliament. When Ludlow expostulated Jones made the excuse that he acted at the "incessant importunity of others", and begged Ludlow to return and ease him of the burden of his command. On 13 December 1659, however, Colonels John Bridges,
Theophilus Jones, and other officers of
George Monck's party seized
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin.
Until 1922 it was the se ...
and arrested Jones. An
impeachment
Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements.
In ...
of
high treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
against Jones and his colleagues (Ludlow, Corbet, and Thomlinson) was presented to Parliament on 19 January 1660. The main charge was that Jones had "openly and publicly owned that treacherous and traitorous act of part of the army in England in their unjust force put upon the parliament". Jones was summoned before the Council of State, but was released on an agreement not to disturb the existing government.
Restoration of the monarchy
In 1660, the
Restoration of the monarchy under
Charles II, the son of King Charles I, exposed Jones to certain ruin. As a politically active senior member of the republican party, who had married into Oliver Cromwell's family, was an opponent of Monck's party, and a signatory of Charles I's death warrant, Jones became a prime target of Charles II and his supporters seeking revenge. However, Jones seems to have been unaware of the danger he was in, making no attempt to flee, and was arrested on 2 June 1660, as he was quietly walking in
Finsbury
Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London.
The Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man called Finn ...
, and was committed to the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
. On 4 June, the House of Commons excepted him from the
Indemnity and Oblivion Act
The Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660 was an Act of the Parliament of England (12 Cha. II c. 11), the long title of which is "An Act of Free and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion". This act was a general pardon for everyone who had committe ...
, and he was tried on 12 October the same year. Jones confessed that he had sat among the King's judges, made no attempt to plead any point of law, and was
sentenced to death
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
. On 17 October 1660, Jones was executed by being
hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered became a statutory penalty for men convicted of high treason in the Kingdom of England from 1352 under Edward III of England, King Edward III (1327–1377), although similar rituals are recorded during the rei ...
together with
Adrian Scrope
Colonel Adrian Scrope, also spelt Scroope, 12 January 1601 to 17 October 1660, was a Parliamentarian soldier during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and one of those who signed the death warrant for Charles I in January 1649. Despite being promi ...
, and reportedly died with great courage and dignity.
Family
Jones married twice. His first marriage was before 1639 to Margaret Edwards (died Ireland 19 November 1651) they had eight children but only one, a son, survived him. Margaret was a devoted follower of the
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
preacher
Morgan Llwyd
Morgan Llwyd (1619 – 3 June 1659) was a Puritan Fifth Monarchist and Welsh language poet and prose author.
Biography
Morgan Llwyd was born to a cultured and influential family in the parish of Maentwrog, Gwynedd. His grandfather, Huw ...
.
In 1656 Jones married again. His second wife was Henrietta (erronously called Catherine by Carlyle) Whitstone (baptised on 7 February 1597), the
third sister of Oliver Cromwell, and the widow of Roger Whitstone, a Parliamentary army officer who had campaigned in the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
, she had three sons and two daughters. Catherine received an annual settlement of £300 from the estate of her former husband to which Oliver Cromwell added an annuity of £150. She and Jones had no children. Her husband opposed
Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who was the second and last Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell.
On his father's death ...
when he was Protector, and Richard stopped her annuity. From a letter of Henrietta/Catherine's that was published in the 19th century, it seems that she had Royalist sympathies as she disapproved of the execution of Charles I.
["'']Notes and Queries
''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inne ...
'',' 7th ser. ix. 303." .
After Jones's execution his son and heir was allowed to retain the lands Jones had held before 1646, but the rest either returned to the Crown (if they had been Crown lands before the Civil War) or were forfeited. His forfeited estates in Wales went to the Duke of York (the future
James II of England
James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Gloriou ...
), while those in Ireland went to
Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey
Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey PC (10 July 16146 April 1686) was an Anglo-Irish royalist statesman. After short periods as President of the Council of State and Treasurer of the Navy, he served as Lord Privy Seal between 1673 and 1682 ...
.
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
;Attribution
* Endnotes:
**Ludlow's ''Memoirs'', ed. 1751, fol.
**Noble's ''House of Cromwell'', ed. 1787, ii. 213;
**Phillips's ''Civil War in Wales'', 1874
**Official letters from Jones during his employment in Ireland are printed in the Thurloe Papers, in Cary's ''Memorials of the Civil War'', and in the Proceedings of the Liverpool Historic Society for 1860–1, pp. 177–300.
Further reading
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones Maesygarnedd, John
1590s births
1660 deaths
People from Merionethshire
Executed regicides of Charles I
Roundheads
People executed by Stuart England by hanging, drawing and quartering
Executed Welsh people
English MPs 1654–1655
Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales
English politicians convicted of crimes