A Classification System (Part II)

The flow charts to the right continue the outline of the JONES SURNAME CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM. Using the symbols (charges) and colors (tinctures) of the coat(s) of arms for the JONES surname before 1840, an analysis was done in order to group the various JONES families. Starting with "a lion rampant", each shield was coded according to these factors (charges and tinctures). To follow the first flow chart: 1) "a lion ramp." is at the top. [This represents the primary charge.], 2) next is the color of the charge given as gold, blue, red, ...etc., 3) the color(s) of the shield are then organized by their tinctures, until 4) a JONES family is identified. In this case, the JONES family of Kelston Park, Somerset is described. You can then see that 37% of the JONES arms had a gold lion rampant as their symbol. Twenty nine percent had a blue lion rampant, so on, and so on down the colors recorded. Only 4 % had a silver lion rampant.


The second flow chart shows further analysis for the "blue lion rampant", with eleven distinct JONES families. A variety of locations were found, showing again how the JONES surname is found in various counties.


The red lion with a gold shield is found in four families. These include Wales and England. (Oxford) Thus, the wide distribution of the JONES surname appears before Burke recorded his families in 1840. More analysis to come.

Burke's book commonly called "The General Armory", was first published in 1842. In the preface, it states that it was founded on "...the Heralds' Visitations, the County Histories, and the heraldic writing of Dugdale, Camden, Guillim, Edmondson, Berry, Nicholas, and others...". It records over 60,000 coats of arms! Not many JONES families in this book.

The flow charts are taken from: The Jones Genealogist, Vol.VIII, No.5, Jan/Feb, 1997.