Richard Jones (born 1578) 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. ...

between 1628 and 1640. He supported the

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 ...

cause in 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 was the son or grandson of Griffith Jones of Trewern.W R Williams ''The Parliamentary History of the Principality of Wales''
/ref> He was elected

High Sheriff of Radnorshire History The office of High Sheriff is over 1000 years old, with its establishment before the Norman Conquest. The Office of High Sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; ...

for either 1614 or 1617. In 1628 he was elected

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

Radnorshire , HQ = Presteigne , Government = Radnorshire County Council (1889–1974) Radnorshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin = , Status = historic county, administrative county , Start ...

and held the seat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. In April 1640, Jones was elected MP for Radnor in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

. He was a commissioner of array for King Charles in 1642 and issued warrants for raising money for the King's forces. In October 1645 he submitted to parliament and begged to compound on 22 March 1647. His fine was set at £144 on 2 June 1648, but he petitioned that he only had an estate for life in £48 per annum and the fine was reduced to £73. On 27 May 1652 he was exempted and it was ordered that he be left to enjoy his estate. He married Margaret, the daughter of John Price of Pilleth, who bore him 2 sons, both of whom predeceased him.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Richard 1578 births 17th-century deaths Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales 17th-century Welsh politicians Cavaliers English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) High Sheriffs of Radnorshire