Smith, Brown, Williams, Johnson, and Jones

The following article analyzes the use of first names. It presents the surnames SMITH, BROWN, WILLIAMS, JOHNSON, and JONES that were indexed in the first volume of Cavaliers and Pioneers, 1623-1666.

The first names were identified and grouped by surname. The first name "John" was the most common name used for Smith (67 times), Williams (94 times), Johnson (87 times), and Brown (48 times). It was not the first name used for Jones! (48 times).

William (78 times), Richard (51 times), Thomas (50 times), and then John (48 times) was found to be used as first names for the surname Jones. How about that. Who would have thought that William Jones was more common than John Jones!

John as first name was the most common name used among all the surnames analyzed, totally 344 times. The second most common first name was Thomas (223 times), then William (201 times) and Richard (114 times).

The tables to the right summarize these findings with the first name listed in the right hand column, and the surname across the top.

Interestingly, the many first names used with the surname Jones does not appear used the surname Johnson. This implies that those folks with the surname Johnson did not follow the same pattern of the Joneses! This would suggest to me that the surname Johnson did not share the same origins as the surname Jones.

The surname Williams shared the most first names. This implies that the surname Williams and Jones most likely have common roots. [Good Welsh names.]

Explore the first name usage for yourself, and see what impressions you gain.

The study was published 1999 in The Jones Genealogist, Vol.XI, No.1, May/June issue.

A Classification System (Part III)

This post continues the JONES Classification System. It is for those families that recorded "a lion ramp. (rampant) on their coat of arms listed in Burke 1840. This is the third analysis based upon the color of the "charge" (symbol= a lion rampant).

The black (sa.), green (vert.), and silver (ar.) charges are then broken down by the color of the shield.

There are at least four distinct JONES families demonstrated.

Again this shows that there are many different "coat of arms" for the JONES surname.

On a First name bases 1273 - 1600

During most of our lives we are called by our first names. For the Welsh, this has not always been the case, but for the JONES surname it became a factor in the English legal records around 1273. [After Edward I got control.]

The following post describes the first names that were recorded for the surname JONES from 1273 until 1600. They are recorded in chronological sequence from the date that they were first recorded in the English legal system.

Please note that the Philip Jones family is not included because this group was not discovered until after this article was published in 1996. So actually, Philip would be the first male name appearing.

The most common first name is of course John, but it is tied with William and Thomas comes in a close second.

Female names begin to appear in larger numbers after 1563. I suspect this has to do with the fact that the first generation of JONES surnames are ending, and the wives (or widows) are entering the court system.

The data are taken from The Jones Genealogist, Vol.VIII, No.3, Sept/Oct 1996.

JONES in Virginia 1625

On March 22, 1622, roughly 1/3 of the settlers of Virginia were killed. After this suprise attack, the Virginia colony struggled to survive. A census (muster) was taken 16 February 1623, that listed the extent of the attack. Following this, a census (Muster list) was taken January 1624/25. Those who had a surname JONES were abstracted for these two "musters".

The tables to the right give an alphabetical listing of the JONES in Virginia January, 1625. Some had come after 1622, so where not present during the attacks of 1622. When the ages are given, a birth year has been calculated. The name of the ship, and when they arrived to Virginia are also recorded.

The JONES of Virginia, 1625...say hello.

Remember to click on the tables to enlarge them.

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The First Jones to Virginia

It was May, 1609, that nine ships left the coast of England. They contained 500 men, women, and children who were to "relieve" the new colony planted at Jamestown. Six of the ships left London, and three ships left from Plymouth, all with great hope and expectations. Crossing the Atlantic would have been dangerous enough, but throw in plague, hurricane, ship wreck, and a 40% mortality rate, and you have the ingredients for the "perfect storm".

Only 300 of those who started this crossing arrived at Jamestown, 1609. One of these 300 was "Elizabeth Joones." She is first listed as a "servant of Thomas Dunthorne", and is recorded as arriving to Virginia in the Patience, 1609. [The Patience was one of two small ships constructed in Bermuda to bring the survivors of the Sea Venture which had wreck after the hurricane hit! It actually arrived 9 months later in May 1610, but Cavaliers and Pioneers Vol. I, p. xxix, records her as arriving 1609.] She is listed as "Aged 30" in the Muster list of 1624/25. The age entered was that recorded at the time the muster was taken, so she was born around 1595. [1625 - 30 years] In this muster reported by Hotten, p. 255, a "Sarah Joones aged 5 borne in Virginia" follows her name in the Muster of Thomas Dunthorne. So around 1620 she was having children. To be listed in the Muster of 1624/25 also means that she survived the Indians attacks of 1622! She is listed as an "Ancient Planter" and the wife of "Giles Jones, Gent." being within the "Island of Point Comfort, 16 Oct. 1628. (CP, p. 10)

As best as I have been able to uncover, she married before 1637, a second husband named Henry Southwell (d. 1637), and married Richard Popeley before 1638. So she at least lived to the full age of 60 years or more. She certainly had a lot of stories to tell!