Jones family history
David John (=Jones) (1706-1778) (great great great great grandfather)
Long before the days of the internet my uncle, Colin Jones, constructed a family tree from family papers, church registers and gravestones. His records go back to David John, the Welsh spelling of Jones. David married Ann (1710-?) and had four sons, listed by Colin as John, Thomas, Morgan and David, and possibly a daughter. The coincidence with Thomas' progeny (four sons and a daughter) suggests there may be some confusion between the generations and therefore doubt that David and Ann also had a daughter, unless I find some other evidence.
Colin recorded that John had three children: David, baptized on 15 August 1765, Margaret, baptized on 12 February 1768 and William, baptized on 8 June 1771; that Thomas was born in 1738; and that Morgan had two children: Thomas and another son but see below.
Gareth Knowles, a 7x great grandson of Thomas’s brother David, contacted me in 2025 with much more information from his family research, including baptism records for all four of David John’s sons in Llanwrda: David on 25 January 1730; John on 4 March 1731; Thomas on 5 August 1737; and Morgan on 2 June 1740. The parish church in Llanwrda did not start recording the names of mothers on baptism records until 1760.
David (1730-1784) married Sarah (surname unknown, 1731-1799). He had a large farmhouse at Gwernfelen (also Wernfelen) in the parish of Llandingat or Llandingad near Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, where all his children were born. The family were non-conformists. He died at Gwernfelen and was buried on 20 Sep 1784 in the parish of Llandingat/Llandovery. He did not have time to write a will and his widow Sarah had to write a letter of administration to receive his state through intestacy.
David and Sarah had at least seven children: Mary (1756-?), Thomas, David (?-1829), Elizabeth (1759-1831, married Benjamin James, 1750-1828), John (1766-1827), Catherine (1768-1829), Ebenezer (11 June 1768-31 January 1829).
Mary, probably firstborn, was baptized on 25 January 1756 in Llandingat. She may have been the only child not baptized in a non-conformist church.
Thomas farmed at Gwernfelen for a period after the death of his parents. His uncle, my 3x great grandfather Thomas, mentions him in correspondence with solicitors: "Deeds may be exchanged by Mr Jones or Thomas Jones of Gwernfelen"; and "they have made room in writer's will for his nephew Thomas's name and some eminent divines to be inserted."
David left money in his will to his brother Ebenezer but see below.
John studied at Christ College, Brecon, and was later ordained. He went home to Gwernfelen when his father died, possibly even to help on the family farm. The Dictionary of Welsh Biography JONES, JOHN (1766? - 1827), classical scholar and Unitarian divine | Dictionary of Welsh Biography says he was born at Wernfelen and gives much more detail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John Jones (Unitarian) says he was a relative of David, ‘the Welsh Freeholder’, and followed David into New College, Hackney, soon after its establishment in 1786. He was a first cousin of David and of my great great grandfather, also the Rev John Jones. Soon after 1804 he married Joanna (born 1769), the only daughter of Abraham Rees, his tutor at Hackney. She died childless in 1815 and in 1817 he married Anna (1795-?), only daughter of George Dyer of Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire. They had two children. His gravestone says:
In Memory of
JOHN JONES, LL.D.,
Of Great Coram Street, London;
Died January, 1827, aged 58 years;
Fifth son of David Jones, of Gwernfelen
Catherine married Claudius Chervert on 24 February 1789 in Shoreditch. Claudius had a printing business in London. His business partner ran off and he was declared bankrupt in 1806.
Ebenezer married Ann Morgan (1777-?). Although not quite as famous as his brother John, he was a well-known independent minister in his day. He fulfilled the prophecy of Rev Edmund Jones (no relation) who founded Ebenezer Chapel, Cwmffrwdoer, in 1740 in Pontypool and predicted a man called Ebenezer would follow him and grow the congregation and spread the word of God. A memorial tablet in the church reads "He dispensed the word of life Faithfully for near 34 years within these walls: during which time his ministry was Eminently Blessed of God to the salvation of many Souls." The tablet and the chapel are depicted here:
https://www.peoplescollection.wales/story/511114 In his will he says his late brother David had left him money in a will, which due to his impending death he would now like to go to his children.
John (1731-1815), second son of David John, married Margaret Jenkins (1734-1801) on 20 July 1764 in Llanfairarybryn. A few years after her death he married Anne Williams. He had a freehold farm at Bwlchygwynt, near Llandovery, Carmarthenshire. John and Margaret had three children:
David (1765-1816), the barrister known as ‘the Welsh Freeholder’. He didn’t marry. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Jones (barrister). His will left everything to the husband of his sister Margaret (but he died in 1810).
Margaret (1768-1806) married William Wozencraft (1748-1810). They had five daughters:
Margaret (1797-?), Magdalen E (1798-?), Anne (1801-?), Livia (1802-?) and Eliza (1806-?).
William (1771-1777) is not mentioned in the Wikipedia article about his brother, which describes David as the only son of John Jones.
John’s will left everything to Anne and his children, David and Margaret (but she died in 1806).
Thomas (1737-1797), the third son, is described on the next page of this site.
Morgan (1740-1805), the fourth son, was a farmer at Llandingat. He also seems to have had a daughter, who lived at a farm in Llanwrda called Pwllagddy, another property/farm owned by her uncle Thomas (1737-1797). A grandchild of Morgan is also recorded as being a farmer at Bwlchygwynt Farm, which had belonged to John (1731-1815).