The Jones Surname Museum

A museum dedicated to a single surname...the surname JONES.  Who would have guessed that some 12 years ago an idea floating around in ones head would become the only one in the world.  As far as I have been able to determine, it is the only museum that gives the history, origin, and details about a single surname,  the JONES surname. [Please let me know if anyone has information otherwise.]

The picture below shows one segment of the museum as it tells the story of the JONES surname beginning with Roman Britain 40 BC.  Can you believe it?  Beginning with the first writers  who recorded facts about the tribal groups which occupied the land that was to become the home of my JONES DNA, the story is told.   The story continues through 12 panels that give a chronology as follows:

  Roman Britain 40 BC - 400 AD
  The "Britons" 400 AD - 600 AD
  Early Wales 600 AD - 800 AD
  Wales of the Princes 800 AD - 1000 AD
  Age of Conquest 1000 AD - 1100 AD
  Age of the Marches 1100 AD - 1200 AD
  Age of Annexation 1200 AD - 1300 AD
  Age of Towns, Trade, Taxes, and Tragedy 1300 AD - 1400 AD
  The Final Rebellion 1400 AD - 1500 AD
  Act of Union 1500 AD - 1600 AD
  The final Twist
  House of Tudor Trevor 850 AD to present
 
The museum is located at The Golden Lion Bed & Breakfast, Danville, KY.  It is open to the public most afternoons if arrangements are made by phone 859-583-1895.  Come and walk through the history of the JONES surname. 

Jones Surname Tree Climbing

Researching the JONES surname can involve climbing out many different branches.  There may be all sorts of obstacles, difficulties, and many brick walls.  Many genealogist give up the hunt after a few generations that lead to many John Jones(es).  My own tree climbing has involved a great deal of topics and subjects that have taught me much about my own JONES family and their travels along this tree of life.  The figure below shows my "Genealogy Tree House" as I have come to imagine it.  You are welcome to share the branches and sit in the shade. 

The major topics that can used to help in your own JONES tree climbing are shown among the branches.  Each topic shown can be taken to a "blogspot" that gives additional helps and information regarding the JONES surname.  From "Welsh Genealogy" to "DNA" are discussed in the various blog sites.  How to get around brick walls can be found among the branches.  You can find these blog sites by typing in "The Jones Genealogist" (including quotation marks) on your web search browser.  I hope you can find them helpful in your own JONES tree climbing.

English Border Counties and The Surname JONES

The English counties that border Wales became a center of activity for the JONES surname.  The figure below shows the number of legal cases involving someone with the surname JONES from 1500 AD to 1700 AD.  The counties in Wales have been discussed in previous posts, and they are shown by the slanted blue lines.

Salop heads the list with 41 cases. [This county becomes important in my own JONES family.]
Hereford and Gloucester share roughly the same number (33), with Somerset coming in at 35 cases.  Wiltshire is a close forth with 29 cases.   As one moves further east, the number of JONES seem to drop off dramatically indicating the legal conflicts for the JONES families are pretty close to Wales.  There are several counties in England during this time period that had no JONES families involved.  These are yet to be discussed.  At any rate, the border counties had their share of the JONES surname.

A Number Analysis: Wales and Jones

Several of the previous post have shown the chronology of the JONES surname as it appears in the English legal records.  Starting in the south, the surname appears in a gradual pattern of spread from the "border" counties to the western coastal counties.  The following figure shows a map of the total number of JONES surnames appearing over the period 1500-1700 for the counties of Wales.  This demonstrates the total number of those with the JONES surname that were involved in the English legal records.

Monmouth seems to be the "hotbed" of legal action with almost twice as many cases with the JONES surname occurring. [#77]   William FitzOsbern began the Norman occupation here in 1068 AD. [After the Roman and Saxon of course.]  It was here that Geoffrey of Monmouth (ca. 1100AD) took his name, and wrote his now famous stories. [The world of literature would never be the same!]

Montgomery comes in a distant second, with the Montgomery family (Roger de Montgomery), perhaps finding things a little more difficult in the north.  His son, Robert of Belesme, probably helped things by trying to set up his own kingdom which Henry I frustrated.  It would seem that Denbigh and Shropeshire produced a similar number of legal cases. [#44...#41...#40]

Those counties surrounding Monmouth are pretty close to the same number of JONES with Glamorgan (#34), Hereford (#33), Carmarthen (#30), and Brecon (#29).

The western most counties show a distant third, with Angelesey showing the fewest.(#5).  Mereioneth (#16), Cardigan (#12), and Caernarvon (#8) sharing the same with Pembroke (#8) is shown.

Interesting, that Chester, the northern most border county only shows #5.  I suspect this has to do with the fact that Chester had already established the English legal system here since Hugh d'Avranches had his go at it. [One of his nicknames was "the Wolf" given for his ferocity against the Welsh.]

At any rate, the total number of those recorded with the JONES surname 1500-1700 is shown. 

The Final Two Places After 1558

The appearance of the JONES surname in Wales before 1600 is finally completed with Cardigan and Pembroke counties.  All counties in Wales have the occurrence of an individual with the surname JONES except Anglesey. [Isle of Mon.]

In the black angled strips:

For Cardigan is Thomas Jones [99/40] 1558-1579.

For Pembroke is Owen Jones [242/66] 1558-1603.

It would seem that the JONES surnames moves essentially east to west, with Pembroke being the last county to have an individual JONES get involved in the English legal system.  Anglesey held out!  It would be interesting to investigate this further.  At least if you had an ancestor from Wales before 1600 [with the surname JONES] you might be able to begin your genealogical investigation.  Anglesey would be least likely to have a JONES family.

Filling In The Spaces 1553-1555

The next two counties to see the surname JONES were Carmarthen and Denbigh.  For the years 1553-1555, a Griffith Jones appears in Carmarthen [1015/68-69].  A Robert Johnes is listed from Denbigh at a little later date [1362/55-56]. 

The figure above shows the geographic positions for these two Welsh counties.  Denbigh being the most northern, and Carmarthen in the south.  Both border the "middle counties" and suggest again the spread of the English legal system into Wales following the Act of Union 1536.  It was during these times that the English surname system became the law of Wales.

Please remember that the numbers in brackets above give the references for the legal cases as they are recorded in the Public Record Office, "List of Early Chancery Proceedings" with first number being the "File No.", and the second being the "Nos." of the case in that particular file.

JONES In The Middle 1547-1553

The middle counties of Wales became the next area of JONES surname 1547-1553.  The counties are shown in green above, Radnor being 1st, with William Jones [14/96].  Brecon was 2nd, with Roger Jones [1238/45-46].  Merioneth was 3rd, with William Jones [1238/50].  Montgomery Co. was 4th, with Richard Joones [1238/56-60]  This is based on the record numbers shown following each name, which is assumed to be recorded in chronological sequence in the legal records.   Thus, the south's influence seems to be the direction of the appearance of English influence in the legal system of Wales as it followed the Act of Union, 1536.   On, and on, it would go...more to come.  See the prior post which describes the blue, pink, and orange counties as shown on the map above.