Thomas William Jones, Baron Maelor (10 February 1898 – 18 November 1984) was a British Labour politician. Born into a mining family in

Ponciau Ponciau is a village within the Community (Wales), community of Rhosllanerchrugog, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is close to the villages of Legacy, Pentre Bychan, and Johnstown, Wrexham, Johnstown and is overlooked by Ruabon mountains, Ruab ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, he was educated at Ponciau School before becoming a

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

at the nearby

Bersham Colliery Bersham Colliery was a large coal mine located near Rhostyllen in Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham, Wales. The mine accessed seams found in the Denbighshire Coalfield. History The Wrexham area in the 19th Century was highly industrialised. At t ...

. He later attended Normal College

Bangor, Gwynedd Bangor (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north Wales. It is the oldest city in Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Caernarfonshire, the community had a ...

and qualified as a teacher. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

, but was granted recognition only to serve in the army as a

non-combatant Non-combatant is a term of art in the law of war and international humanitarian law to refer to civilians who are not taking a direct part in hostilities. People such as combat medics and military chaplains, who are members of the belligerent arm ...

. He received a six-month prison sentence by

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

for refusing to obey orders, on grounds of conscience, which he served at

Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough ...

prison in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

; under the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

Scheme he was transferred to Knutsford Work Centre, and then Princetown Work Centre in the former

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite that forms the uplands dates from the Carb ...

prison in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. Jones firstly stood as a Labour Parliamentary candidate in 1935, but was unsuccessful. However, in the 1951

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

he was elected as member of parliament for Merionethshire Westminster constituency, a position he held until 1966. On 13 June 1966 he was given a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Maelor, of

Rhosllannerchrugog RhosllanerchrugogDavies, Jenkins and Baines (eds) ''The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales'', 2008, p.752 (; Welsh Language Commissioner, standardised and also spelled as Rhosllannerchrugog, or simply Rhos) is a village and Community (Wales), ...

in the County of

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

. He was a poet and a member of the

Gorsedd Gorsedd Cymru (), or simply the Gorsedd (), is a society of Welsh-language poets, writers, musicians and others who have contributed to the Welsh language and to public life in Wales. Its aim is to honour such individuals and help develop and p ...

Bards In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's an ...

at the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

and served as President of the

International Eisteddfod The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is a music festival which takes place every year during the second week of July in Llangollen, North Wales. It is one of several large annual Eisteddfodau in Wales. Singers and dancers from aroun ...

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community (Wales), community, situated on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Val ...

. Lord Maelor, a lifelong heavy smoker, died in an overnight fire at his home in Ponciau which was thought to have been started by a smouldering cigarette. He was cremated at

Pentre Bychan is a semi-rural hamlet in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Variously spelled as either one word or two (Pentre Bychan or Pentrebychan), it is situated between Rhostyllen and Johnstown in the ward and community of Esclusham, some 4 km south ...

Crematorium, Wrexham. His brother, Idwal, was member of parliament (Labour) for

from 1955 to 1970.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maelor, Thomas Jones, Baron 1898 births 1984 deaths Military personnel from Wrexham County Borough British Army personnel of World War I British Army soldiers Jones, Thomas Jones, Thomas Jones, Thomas Jones, Thomas Jones, Thomas UK MPs who were granted peerages Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II British conscientious objectors Welsh conscientious objectors People from Rhosllanerchrugog People educated at Ruabon Grammar School