John Viriamu Jones
The second of the Thomas Jones’ sons, John Viriamu Jones.
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| John Viriamu Jones |
John was born January 1856, Swansea. His middle name Viriamu is the Erromanga pronunciation
of ‘William’. A name that his father
used after the English missionary, John Williams
Aged 2, his parents moved to London, having been privately educated,
John was then sent first to a private school in Reading, and then University
College School, London. Aged 10, John’s mother Jane Jones, died and his father
returned back to Swansea. Further education
was under taken at the Normal School, then aged 16, John entered the University
College London, where by the age of 19 obtained B.Sc degree in Geology. By 1877, John was made Fellow of the University.
1874, where he gained a scholarship for Balliol, Oxford in mathematics,
where he obtained a first-class honour but also a first in Physics. It was here that he became friends with
Benjamin Jowett.
Benjamin Jowett was
the influential tutor and the reformer of Oxford University.
Only aged 25, John and coaching whilst still in Oxford, was
appointed the first principal of Firth College, Sheffield. Whilst here, John reorganised the university from
the moribund state that it was in previously.
With this development the college future turned it into Sheffield
University.
1883, Cardiff, the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire
was being establishing, and it was that June, John was appointed the principal.
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| John Viriamu Jones Principal |
With the help of his wife, Katherine Wills and able students
and teachers, John was able to turn College into a centre of learning. John was able to collect £70,000 for the college,
along with persuading the Cardiff Corporation to make the grant of the site of
the president buildings in Cathays Park.
The two great needs for Wales was a Welsh university and a system
of secondary education, for bother ideas John worked indomitably. John provided
a large part of the charter of the university.
He was created the first vice-chancellor during 1895-96. John was also responsible for the great
freedom of choice of subject in the degree-schemes. John was the first vice-chairman of the
Central Welsh Board for Intermediate Education, 1896.
During his leisure time, John devoted his time to scientific
research, which was mainly the physical measurements such as the determination
of the ohm. In 1894, for his research
work, John was elected F.R.S.
As previously stated, John married Katherine Wills. She was the daughter of judge Sir Alfred
Wills. One of the cases, that Alfred
presided over was the trial of Oscar Wilde who was convicted for “committing acts
of gross indecency with other male persons”.
June 1901, Geneva, aged 45, John suddenly died. His body returned back home for burial at St.
Thomas.
John was born in Pentrpoeth, Morriston, Swansea, as was I. He could be a relative of mine but not sure. My godfather was a Jones and his wife owned a chemist shop in the Town where my Dad worked also as a chemist. My Dad like John went to Oxford University where he studied Chemistry and Physics.
ReplyDeleteThe house i was born in belonged to the Jones family at the top of Pentrepoeth hill, Morriston, Swansea. Could it be the same house???
DeleteHi Jayne this sounds all very interesting, is there any researching that you like to be carried out
DeleteThank you for getting back to me. My cousin who lives in Australia and myself have been doing a family tree on Ancestry but i had to stop as it became all to complicated for me. I know that my Dad was a cousin to Thomas and Jones the Iron mongers in Morriston . My great granddad moved to Swansea from Port Issac, Cornwall in 1800s and married a welsh woman, she was a Jones. I know that the Thomas's, Jones's and Williams come into the fold. I think its a question of cousins marrying cousins if that makes sence.
ReplyDelete