Robert Jones (c. 1682 – 19 December 1715) of Fonmon, Glamorgan, Wales was a Welsh politician who sat in 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. ...

from 1712 to 1715.

Jones was a younger son of Oliver Jones (died 1685) of

Fonmon Castle , map_type = Wales Vale of Glamorgan , map_caption = Location within the Vale of Glamorgan , map_alt = , map_size = 250 , coordinates = , established = , dissolved = , location = ...

, and his wife Mary Button. His grandfather, Col. Philip Jones, had sat in

Cromwell's Upper 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 ...

. Robert was educated at

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 ...

, matriculating at 15 in 1698. He succeeded his elder brother Philip to Fonmon in 1686. In 1703, he married Mary Edwin, the daughter of

Sir Humphrey Edwin Sir Humphrey Edwin (1642–1707) was an English merchant and Lord Mayor of London for the year 1697 to 1698. Early life Edwin was born at Hereford, the only son of William Edwin, twice mayor of Hereford, by his wife, Anne, of the family of Mansfie ...

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader ...

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

. Jones replaced his father-in-law Sir Humphrey Edwin as

High Sheriff of Glamorgan This page is a list of High Sheriffs of Glamorgan. Sheriffs of Glamorgan served under and were answerable to the independent Lords of Glamorgan until that lordship was merged into the crown. This is in contrast to sheriffs of the English shires wh ...

for the year 1703 to 1704. When Sir Thomas Mansel vacated his parliamentary seat at

Glamorganshire , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

on being ennobled as

Baron Mansel Baron Mansel, of Margam in the County of Glamorgan, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created on 1 January 1712 for Sir Thomas Mansel, 5th Baronet, previously Member of Parliament for Cardiff and Glamorganshire. His ancestor ...

, Jones was returned at a by-election on 13 January as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Glamorganshire in the Mansel interest. He was a

High Tory In the United Kingdom and elsewhere, High Toryism is the old traditionalist conservatism which is in line with the Toryism originating in the 17th century. High Tories and their worldview are sometimes at odds with the modernising elements of the ...

, while Mansel was a more moderate Court Tory, but Mansel may have felt obliged to make a concession to the local High Tory interests to prevent their attachment to the

Duke of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort (), a title in the Peerage of England, was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of So ...

's interest. He was again returned for Glamorgan at the 1715 election, and was noted as a Jacobite, keeping a portrait of the

Pretender A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting'' ...

. Jones did not long survive the Whig reascendancy as he died on 19 December 1715 at the age of 33. He left two sons and four daughters.

References

1682 births 1715 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies High Sheriffs of Glamorgan {{Wales-GreatBritain-MP-stub