Theophilus Jones (1729? – 8 December 1811) was an Irish MP and administrator. He was born the eldest son of Walter Jones of Headfort and Olivia, the daughter and coheiress of the Hon. Chidley Coote of Coote Hall, County Roscommon. He served three periods as MP for

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...

in the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chamb ...

, sitting from 1761 to 1768, 1776 to 1783 and 1790 to 1800. He also sat for

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

(1769 to 1776) and Monaghan Borough (1783 to 1790). He was appointed secretary to

Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

when the latter was Chief Secretary of Ireland in 1766, holding the post until 1799. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1767 and Collector of Excise at the Port of Dublin from 1767 to 1799. After the Union with Great Britain in 1800 he was MP for Leitrim in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

from 1801 to 1802. Portrait miniature of Catherine Beresford

Jones married three times, firstly in 1754 to the Hon. Catherine Beresford, daughter of 1st Earl of Tyrone, and widow of

Thomas Christmas Thomas Christmas was an Irish politician. Christmas was born in Waterford, son of Richard Christmas, High Sheriff of Waterford in 1686, and Susanna Aland, daughter of Henry Aland, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was MP for the ...

MP of Whitefield, County Waterford. They had 3 sons: * Walter Jones (1754–1839), governor of County Leitrim, and an MP for Coleraine * Theophilus Jones, a Royal Navy admiral * Reverend James Jones (died 1825), a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

rector in County Down After Catherine 's death in 1763, he remarried in 1768 to Anne Murray, daughter of Colonel John Murray MP from Monaghan, with whom he had one son and two daughters: *Henry, who died young *Maria, died unmarried * Anne, died in infancy He served as collector of customs at Dublin Port for a period ending in 1799 however for much of this period he farmed out the position.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Theophilus Year of birth missing 1811 deaths Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Irish MPs 1761–1768 Irish MPs 1769–1776 Irish MPs 1776–1783 Irish MPs 1783–1790 Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish MPs 1798–1800 UK MPs 1801–1802 Chief Secretaries for Ireland Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Leitrim constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Londonderry constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Monaghan constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Leitrim constituencies (1801–1922)