Cornwall

The final county in England and Wales for the surname JONES.  Cornwall it is.  Sort of appropriate since the location titled "Lands End" is here!

Thomas Jones is the name. [bundle 421/no. 27 for the years 1515-1518]  His wife "Margery" is also listed making this a family affair.  An "Alice Bossytherowe, widow" along with Richard Thomas and Robert Thomas bring the case.  The case involves the "detention of deeds relating to a messuage & land in Paul, Penzance, Newlyn, Trevenath".  It sounds like a number of different locations.  Any folks out there know these places?  Here is an example of a case using the JONES surname before the Act of Union 1536.  It is interesting that the ancient Cornish language has the same root as the Welsh...a little of that Celtic blood goes way back.

Devon

Bounded on the north by the Bristol channel, and on the south by the English channel one hundred and thirty miles of sea coast line this county.  A maritime county it is with Plymouth being a historic center of colonial settlement.  The geographer Ptolemy named it Damnonium, and it has been named by the Cornish, Welsh, Anglo-Saxons, and others various names relating to it surface characteristics.

The first Jones is identified as "Joan Jones" being very early in the legal records [Bundle 7/ No. 158].  This would place the case fairly early in 1485, and be one of the few females to be involved in the legal actions of the day.  A George Jones of Plymouth appears after 1558 [Bundle 260/ No. 30] and would suggest "sea faring" activity.  Any Jones families out there connected.