Walter Jones (29 December 1754 – 1839) was an Irish politician from

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 ...

. He held local offices in Leitrim and some minor national patronage offices, and entered Parliament on the interest of his relatives the

Beresford family Beresford may refer to: Places * Beresford, British Columbia * Beresford, Republic of Ireland * Beresford, Manitoba * Beresford, New Brunswick, a town within Beresford Parish, New Brunswick * Beresford, South Dakota * Beresford, Western Australia ...

. Representing the town of Coleraine in County Londonderry, Jones sat in the House of Commons of Ireland from 1798 until its abolition in 1800, and then in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom for most of the period 1801 to 1809.

Early life and family

Jones was the oldest son of Theophilus Jones (1729–1811), a member of the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...

from 1761 to 1800, and then of House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1802. Their mother Catherine Beresford (died 1763) was a daughter of the 1st Earl of Tyrone. His younger brother Admiral Theophilus Jones (1760–1835) was an officer in the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. His third brother Reverend James Jones (died 1825) was 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 secon ...

clergyman in County Londonderry, and father of Admiral

Theobald Jones Admiral Theobald Jones (15 April 1790 – 7 February 1868), also known as Toby Jones, was an Irish officer in the British Royal Navy, a Tory politician, a noted lichenologist, and a fossil-collector. The County Londonderry-born son of a Church ...

. Their family home was at Headfort, near Drumsna in County Leitrim. Anthony Trollope's first published novel was written while he was staying in Drumsna in 1843, inspired by the ruins of Headfort. Trollope wrote in his diary: "While I was still among the ruined walls and decayed beams I fabricated the plot of ''

The Macdermots of Ballycloran ''The Macdermots of Ballycloran'' is a novel by Anthony Trollope. It was Trollope's first published novel, which he began in September 1843 and completed by June 1845. However, it was not published until 1847. The novel was "an abysmal failur ...

''". The Joneses traced their ancestry to Bryan Jones (died 1681), a Welshman who had been granted lands in Ireland by

King James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

in 1622. Bryan's grandson Theophilus Jones (1666–1742), grandfather of this Walter Jones, was a member of the Irish House of Commons from 1692 to 1742, for Sligo Borough and then

Career

Jones was Sheriff of Leitrim in 1795–6, an office which was held by members of his family over ten times on the 17th and 18th centuries. He served as Colonel of the Leitrim militia from 1795 to 1807. He was elected to 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 cham ...

for Coleraine at a by-election in 1798, on the interest of his uncle the 1st Marquess of Waterford. The borough of Coleraine had been managed on behalf of the London Society by

John Claudius Beresford John Claudius Beresford (23 October 1766 – 20 July 1846) was an Irish Tory Member of the UK Parliament representing Dublin City 1801–1804 and County Waterford 1806–1811. Early life Beresford was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. Fr ...

, cousin of the Marquess (who purchased control of the borough in 1799). The Beresfords used Coleraine to elect members of their own family. The by-election arose because both of Coleraine's two seats had been won by candidates who were also elected for other seats, and had chosen to sit for those other seats rather than for Coleraine. Under the Act of Union in 1800, Coleraine was one of Irish boroughs which retained a Parliamentary seat, although like most boroughs which retained their franchise, its representation was reduced from two members to one. The choice of which of the two current members would sit in Westminster was drawn by lot on 1 December 1800. However, in 15 boroughs where one of the members resigned their seat, no draw was needed. The other Coleraine MP, John Beresford was one of those who resigned, leaving Jones – who had supported the Union – as Coleraine's first Westminster MP. He was re-elected at the general election in 1802. However, in 1806 it appeared that Sir George Hill's seat in County Londonderry might be contested, so Jones stood down in favour of Hill. Hill won his contest for the County, and chose to sit for the County, so there was a by-election for Coleraine at which Jones was returned unopposed. He was re-elected unopposed in

1807 Events January–March * January 7 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland issues an Order in Council prohibiting British ships from trading with France or its allies. * January 20 – The Sierra Leone Company, faced with ...

and held the seat until 1809, when he resigned his seat by the procedural device of taking the Chiltern Hundreds. This was to make way for yet another Beresford nominee: John Poo Beresford, illegitimate son of Jones's uncle, the 1st Marquess of Waterford. Jones was governor of

in 1805.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Walter 1754 births 1839 deaths Irish MPs 1798–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Londonderry constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 High Sheriffs of Leitrim Politicians from County Leitrim Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Londonderry constituencies