Penrhyn Grant Jones

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(1878–1945) was a British judge and diplomat who served in China. His last position before retirement was as Assistant

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the

British Supreme Court for China The British Supreme Court for China (originally the British Supreme Court for China and Japan) was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement to try cases against British subjects in China, Japan and Korea under the principles o ...

Early life

Grant Jones was born on 28 May 1878, in

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. He was the eldest son of Frederick Topham Jones, who had been an actor, and Elizabeth Grant Jones (née Fitzgerald). Frederick was the owner of the Royal Sandrock Hotel near

Niton Niton is a village on the Isle of Wight, west of Ventnor, with a population of 2,082. It has two pubs, several churches, a pottery workshop/shop, a pharmacy, a busy volunteer-run library, a medical centre and two local shops including a post o ...

on the

, a fashionable resort with its own spring. His father was also rector on the Isle of Wight. His father was declared bankrupt in 1897 and he lost the hotel. Grant Jones was educated at

Malvern College Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...

where he was a prefect.

Consular Service

Grant Jones came to China in 1902 as a

student interpreter Student interpreter was, historically, an entry-level position in the British and American diplomatic and consular service, principally in China, Japan, Siam and, in the case of the United States, Turkey. It is no longer used as a title. A number o ...

with the China Consular Service, having passed a competitive exam. He was promoted to be a 2nd Class Assistant on July 15, 1909. He served in various consular capacities around China, including

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

Hankow Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers whe ...

and

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...

. He was promoted to Consul in 1926 in

Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...

and served as Consul there and in Amoy (

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...

) until 1931. He was made a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1928 while in Harbin.

Legal career

Grant Jones passed his bar exams, being placed in the first class and was awarded a certificate of honour. He was admitted as a barrister of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1910 and called to the bar on 19 June 1912. He sat as an assessor on the International Mixed Court in the

Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdiction ...

between 1912 and 1920. He also sat as acting Judge of the High Court of

Weihaiwei Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popula ...

in 1919. In November 1931, he was appointed Judge of the

based in

replacing Gilbert Walter King. Grant Jones served as Acting Chief Judge of the court in 1933 and 1937.

Closure of Court, Retirement and Death

On 8 December 1941, Japanese troops occupied the court house of the British Supreme Court in Shanghai. Grant Jones was interned for 5 months before being repatriated to England. His appointment as judge was formally terminated in May 1943 after the

Sino-British Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China The Sino-British Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China, or the Sino-British New Equal Treaty, was a bilateral treaty concluded between the British and the Chinese governments in Chungking ( Chongqing) on 11 January 1 ...

was ratified. After returning to England, Grant Jones retired to

Ticehurst Ticehurst is both a village and a large civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The parish lies in the upper reaches of both the Bewl stream before it enters Bewl Water and in the upper reaches of the River Rother flowing ...

in Sussex. He died on 15 June 1945. and was buried in the cemetery of

St Mary's Church, Ticehurst St Mary's Church is a 14th-century parish church dedicated to St Mary the Virgin in Ticehurst, East Sussex, England. Part of the Diocese of Chichester, the church has grade II* listed building status. In the church is a brass memorial to John Wy ...

. He was a resident of Ticehurst House, an asylum and mental hospital at the time of his death.''The London Gazette'', 13 September 1946, p. 4614

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant Jones, Penrhyn 1878 births 1945 deaths British diplomats in China Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British Supreme Court for China judges People from Cowes People from Ticehurst

Early life

Consular Service

Legal career

Closure of Court, Retirement and Death

Further reading

References