Average Age Admission, Oxford 1500-1599 For Jones Surname

Researching the JONES surname often requires some additional work. How to get around all those brick walls when they present their ugly heads seem to be a common experience. For me this occurred in my JONES family tree climbing when I discovered a number of family members attended that university called Oxford. Thomas, Richard, and Henry, all coming from Wales between 1500 and 1599. How does one go about sorting out all those with the first name Thomas, Richard, and Henry? Over the years, a detailed chronology has served to help separate many among the branches. See:

http://thebrickwallprotocol.blogspot.com/2011/08/bwpl-brick-wall-protocol.html

To aid this chronology, I asked what was the average age of those who where admitted to Oxford for the years 1500-1599? This was necessary since there were 146 individuals with the surname JONES admitted to Oxford, and only 72 gave their ages at admission. [49%] Knowing the average age at admission, no matter what the first name, would allow one to estimate a birth year. The figure above shows the results of this study.

There were 72 individuals with the surname JONES admitted to Oxford with the age at admission given. The range was 12 years [the youngest], to 30 years old [the oldest]. The average age at admission was 17.32 years. The most common age was tied between age 16 and age 19 [ each with 12]. Two folks were at the upper range of 29 and 30 years. Removing these two in the totals would only change the average age to 16.97 years. So, overall, it would seem that the JONES "young ins" were around 17 years old when they left Wales to visit the big city. If a Richard JONES was admitted 1576 and no age at admission was listed, it would estimate his birth year around 1559. A starting point for exploring those JONES families having children around 1559 in the area of Wales.

Jones Surname: Oxford/Cambridge 1500-1600 County of Origin

Folks who shared the JONES surname, and attended Oxford and Cambridge between the years 1500-1600, were evaluated for their county of record. Every JONES admission who had their county of origin listed was recorded. The map to the right displays the results.

Pink color represents those recorded from Cambridge and the Blue color represents those from Oxford. The yellow color shows those counties that did not have a JONES surname recorded. Those counties that had a JONES attending both Universities are represented in white, with a pink and blue outline around the county.

Twelve counties in England did not have a person with the JONES surname attending between 1500-1600. All the Welsh counties had a JONES recorded, with only Pembroke going to Cambridge. Twenty one counties had a JONES attend Oxford only, and eleven counties had a JONES attend Cambridge only. Seven counties had a JONES from which both Oxford and Cambridge were attended.

Those attending Cambridge seem to cluster to the north, east, and southeast. Those attending Oxford seem to cluster from the west, and southwest.

Ireland also had a number of JONES attend, going both to Oxford and Cambridge.

The JONES surname moving into the educational system of England 1500-1600. There were a few of us there.

First Jones to Oxford 1505

Joseph Foster records the alumni of Oxford University starting 1500. His account is titled:

"Alumni Oronienses: The Members Of The University of Oxford, 1500-1714: Their Parentage, Birthplace, and Year of Birth, With A Record Of Their Degrees."

It goes on to describe:

"Being The Matriculation Register of the University, Alphabetically Arranges, Revised, and Annotated, by Joseph Foster. Volume I-Early Series."

It was printed by Kraus Reprint Limited, Nendeln/Liechtenstei, 1968.

On page 827 it list the first JONES to attend Oxford. A Richard Jones (Joonys) to be exact. It is recorded that he received a "B.Can.L. 1 March, 1506-7". [Bachelor of Canon Law] He is called "chaplain" in 1507. An exact copy of this entry reads:

"Jones, Richard (Joonys): B.Can.L. (sup. 16 March). 1505-6, chaplain 1507, B.Can.L. 1 March 1506-7."

Way to go Richard! The first to carry the surname JONES to Oxford.