Robert Jones (artilleryman)

Robert Jones ("Captain Jones") was an officer in the Royal Artillery of the British Army, who wrote and self-published the first book on figure skating, ''The Art of Skating'', in 1772. He was known for popularising figure skating in Great Britain, and for his 1772 trial for sodomy. He also wrote a book about and popularising fireworks. ''The Art of Skating'' was called "a milestone in the history of figure skating". Jones described basic techniques of skating, which was a recreational activity at the time, before the development of figure skating as a sport in the late 1800s. He was the first to characterize skating as an art form. He wrote that he saw no reason for the exclusion of women in skating, as long as they did it for recreational purposes.

In 1772, Jones was convicted of sodomy against a 12-year-old boy; he was sentenced to death but allowed to go into exile. The court case was widely debated and discussed among politicians and in the popular press of the day and was called the "eighteenth century equivalent to the trial of Oscar Wilde a hundred years later".

Life

Robert Jones was a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, but was called "Captain Jones" by the popular press and royal court during the late 1700s. He was most likely a part of the Macaronis, who were seen in the press and by politicians such as the radical Whig John Wilkes as immoral and "demonstrably foreign". Historian and LGBTQ scholar Rictor Norton, who called Jones "a popular character", reported that Jones would attend masquerades dressed like the puppet character Mr Punch. In 1765, Jones popularised fireworks by writing ''A New Treatise on Artificial Fireworks'', which was frequently reprinted. An illustration, which was published in October 1772, was probably a "caricature of Jones as the popularizer of fireworks".

''The Art of Skating''

In 1772, Jones wrote and self-published ''The Art of Skating'', the earliest book about figure skating. The book, which went through several reprintings and revisions and remained available until the mid-1800s, was called by figure-skating historian James R. Hines "a milestone in the history of figure skating".Hines (2015), p. 28 Jones described basic techniques of skating, which was a recreational activity at the time, before the development of figure skating as a sport in the late 1800s. He also described seven advanced figures, or "circular patterns which skaters trace on the ice" that gave the sport of figure skating its name, with sketches and large colour plates of three of them, that were skated at the time.Hines (2015), p. 7 According to Hines, the colour plates demonstrate the conservative nature of skating at the time; the clothing the skaters in them wore were "elaborate and formal"Hines (2015), p. 9 (coats with tails and top hats), and one of the figures Jones describes, the flying Mercury, was inspired by mythology and "represented a nod to neoclassicism".

By the time Jones published the book, skating on ice in an artistic manner had developed to the point that definable technique and a small repertoire of the figures skated at the time could be identified, and according to Hines, Jones filled the need for a record of these figures. Hines stated that the book’s publication served as a starting point for understanding the rapid development of the sport that occurred in Britain during the 19th century and was the first time a technical basis for skating was described. Jones was the first to characterize skating as an art form, although as Hines put it, Jones defined the art of skating as "correct skating technique employed for a limited body of figures" that could be taught to others. He described the fundamentals of skating, including the execution of inside and outside edges, running, and stopping. He stated that once these fundamentals were learned and mastered, skaters could develop more advanced skills and the "more masterly parts of the art" of skating,Hines (2006), p. 25 which included the execution of figures.

During Jones' time, skating was seen as a recreational activity suitable only for men, but he saw no reason for the exclusion of women, writing that doing so was "the effect of prejudice and confined ideas", although he humorously said that skating allowed a woman to "indulge in a ''tête-à-tête'' with an acquaintance without provoking the jealousy of her husband".Hines (2006), p. 24 As Hines stated, "Jones lent unconditional support for women skating, albeit recreationally". Unlike later writers, Jones did not discuss the skating that women were doing separately, perhaps, as Hines suggests, because he viewed the skating of figures as a sport and therefore unsuitable for women. As a social activity, however, he viewed skating as part of the "long and established tradition of fun and courtship on the ice”, even though women during the 18th century were attempting the same figures as men.

Jones also described the design of skates in ''The Art of Skating''. At the time, blades were attached to skaters' shoes with strings, straps, and clips, but Jones' design was one of the first to firmly attach blades to the heels of shoes with screws, which made the blades a part of the shoes and prevented skaters from having to retie the blades and from the blades from falling off the shoes. He also recommended, when skaters would attach blades to their shoes, that they tie them at both the instep and heel, and warned against overtightening straps that would cause poor circulation and prevent their strings and straps stretching and breaking. He also recommended curved blades that had less than two inches touching the ice, which would reduce friction and allow sharper turns, and called for increased blade height, which allowed for deeper edges.

Sodomy trial

In July 1772, Jones was convicted in the Old Bailey for sodomy against a boy aged under thirteen named Francis Henry Hay. According to historian Mike Rendell, Jones was found guilty based solely on the accusation of the alleged victim, and that there was no medical evidence and no corroboration of Hay's testimony in court. Jones was sentenced to death but was held in Newgate Prison and a month after his scheduled execution, was pardoned by King George III on condition that he go into exile (transportation). This leniency was greeted with some uproar by the press and public. According to Norton, the legal arguments made supporting Jones' pardon, which was discussed in great detail in several newspapers, had to do with Hay's consent and the fact that he was Jones' only accuser.Rendell (2020)
/ref> Scholar Frances H. I. Henry stated that Jones had supporters in the British aristocracy, people such as Henry Howard, 12th Earl of Suffolk, one of the government's secretaries of state, and Chief Justice Lord Mansfield, who were convinced that Jones was found guilty based on insufficient evidence.Henry, Frances H. I. (2019)
"Love, Sex, and the Noose: The Emotions of Sodomy in 18th Century England"
(PhD thesis). London, Ontario: University of Western Ontario, p. 65 A newspaper reported in June 1773 that Jones was living in Lyon in the South of France.

Jones' trial caused a stir in the press and from politicians such as John Wilkes, who viewed the pardon as an example of government corruption because those like Jones, with supporters in the government, were pardoned, but poor people accused of crimes were not. The trial and pardon were discussed and debated in the popular press of the day, and summaries of the trial proceedings were reprinted in newspapers. The case brought about the publication of a pamphlet entitled ''The State of the Case of Captain Jones,'' and the scandal was referred to in poetry and satires of the day. ''The Art of Skating'' was published during the trial, which most likely helped its sales.

Rendell called Jones' trial the "eighteenth century equivalent to the trial of Oscar Wilde a hundred years later". According to Norton, no other case about homosexuality was so widely discussed and reported until Wilde's case and that the newspapers of the day debated Jones’ guilt or innocence due to Jones' notoriety, and because Jones had popularised fireworks and skating and because there were other scandals about sodomy occurring at about the same time. Norton reported that the debate about the case ranged from advocating Christianity's intolerance of homosexuality to the defence of homosexual men "who were deemed to have an inborn propensity". Rendell also said that the trial triggered public debate about sodomy, effeminacy, otherness, and what it meant to be English.

Works

* ''A New Treatise on Artificial Fireworks'' (1765).
* ''The Art of Skating'' (1772).

Notes

References

Works cited

* Hines, James R. (2006). ''Figure Skating: A History''. Urbana, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. .
* Hines, James R. (2015). ''Figure Skating in the Formative Years: Singles, Pairs, and the Expanding Role of Women.'' Urbana, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.
* Rendell, Mike (2020). ''Sex and Sexuality in Georgian Britain''. South Yorkshire, England: Pen and Sword History. .

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Robert
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
18th-century British Army personnel
18th-century British non-fiction writers
British people convicted of child sexual abuse
Creators of sports
British male single skaters
Figure skating in the United Kingdom
People convicted of sodomy
Royal Artillery officers