A Matilda Jones Update

Over the past several days, Stephen Rettie (Glasgow, Scotland) and Tanner Ritchie (Ontario, Canada) have been discussing with me the documentation of Matilda Jones.  Stephen Rettie provided access to "Rotuli Hundredorum" [The Hundred Rolls] from work completed by Tanner Ritchie, and I was able to read from the documents [in Latin] the record of Matilda Jones!  It is found in Vol. 2, p. 648, and is dated the 12th of March in the 7th year reign of Edward I.  This would be in the year 1279, and not in 1273 when the rolls were started as I have previously posted.

The Latin was translated by Tanner Ritchie, and it reads that Matilda held 4 acres of land, and a half acre of orchard.  She was required to pay an annual rent of 2 shillings, and provide a number of services to the Abbot of Thorney.  This included help with harvest, milling, and hunting.  I have concluded this was the Abbot of Thorney, which was located in Stibbington  (Stebintone/tune) a parish in the hundred of Norman-Cross. 

It has taken roughly 25 years for me to find this documentation of Matilda Jones!  [for myself]  Thank you beyond words to Stephen Rettie and Tanner Ritchie for providing this update to the first JONES in the English records. 

If anyone has additional information, please post.    I have not been able to find anyone with the JONES surname before this date in any historical document or records.  Anyone that has documentation before this date, please let all the readers know.

Irish Counties and The Jones Surname

From Latin and Norman French, English was first written in the legal records of Ireland in the city of Waterford, 1365.  [Kilkenney 1434, Dublin 1450's, and Galway 1485 ]  From this English language, the Jones surname appears.

The figure below shows the counties in Ireland that had recorded a Jones family with a coat of arms before 1840.  These arms were recorded in Burke, 1884 edition,  pp.548 - 549.

Dublin had eight families, with Meath and Kildare having two Jones families.  Wrexford, Sligo, Leithrim, and Londonderry had one each.  The earliest JONES is "Sir Roger Jones, knighted at Drogheds, 24 March 1606".  These Irish counties would be the first to begin the JONES surname.

This research is from my own documents [RN # 23, RN # 88].  There is much to be learned regarding the Irish Jones families.  Any Irish JONES families out there?  Please post...:-).

For an outline of this research see tgjresearchnotebooks.blogspot.com.