Theobald Jones facts for kids
Admiral Theobald Jones (born 15 April 1790 – died 7 February 1868) was an Irish officer in the British Royal Navy. People also knew him as Toby Jones. He was a Tory politician and a famous expert on lichens. He also collected fossils. Jones was born in County Londonderry. His father was a clergyman from the Church of Ireland. His family came from Wales in the 1600s. Many of his family members had important public jobs in Ireland before it joined with Britain.
Jones joined the navy when he was just 13 years old. This was during the Napoleonic Wars. He survived many sea battles. When he was 16, his ship even caught fire at night. He served for ten years under his step-mother's brother, Henry Blackwood. By age 25, he became a commander. At 38, he became a captain. However, he never actually sailed a ship as a captain.
When he was 40, Jones became a member of Parliament. He represented County Londonderry. He was supported by the Marquess of Waterford. Jones was a member of the Orange Order and a very traditional politician. He was known for his "plain unassuming manners." He served in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in London from 1830 until 1857. After leaving politics, he spent his time studying lichens. He created the first full list of Irish lichens. This work started the study of lichens in Ireland.
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Early Life and Family Background
Theobald Jones was the second son of Reverend James Jones. His father was a Church of Ireland clergyman. Theobald's mother, Lydia, was the daughter of Theobald Wolfe. Reverend Jones became a rector in Kilcronaghan in County Londonderry in 1786. Theobald was born there in 1790. His family moved several times after that.
After Lydia died in 1793, Reverend Jones married Anne Ryder in 1796. Anne was the daughter of Sir John Blackwood. Sir John was a member of the Irish Parliament. Between 1814 and 1819, Reverend Jones became a leader in the Orange Order in County Londonderry. His family was involved in important events like the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
Family History
Theobald's father, Reverend James Jones, had an older brother named Theophilus Jones. He was also an admiral in the Royal Navy. Their oldest brother, Walter, was a governor. He was also a Member of Parliament for Coleraine. Their grandfather, Theophilus Jones, was also an MP.
The Jones family came from Bryan Jones, a Welshman. King James VI and I gave him land in Ireland in 1622. Bryan's grandson, Theophilus Jones, was a member of the Irish House of Commons for many years.
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Jones joined the navy in 1803. He started as a volunteer midshipman on HMS Melpomene. He helped attack French ports. In 1805, he moved to HMS Euryalus. This ship was led by Captain Henry Blackwood. Blackwood was his father's second wife's brother. In 1807, Jones moved again to Blackwood's new ship, HMS Ajax.
During the Dardanelles Operation, Jones was on Ajax. The ship caught fire while anchored near a Turkish island. The fire started around 9 PM on February 14, 1807. It was caused by a careless crew member. The fire spread very quickly. Within ten minutes, smoke made it hard to launch boats. Soon, flames reached the main deck. The crew had to jump into the water. About 250 people died in the fire.
After the fire, Jones served on HMS Emdymion. When he returned to England, he joined Blackwood again. This time, he was on the new ship HMS Warspite.
Jones became a Lieutenant in July 1809. He fought more battles on Warspite in July 1810. They fought the French fleet near Toulon. In 1814, he moved to HMS Desiree. This ship sailed to the Cape of Good Hope. When he came back to England in February 1815, he learned he had been promoted. He became a commander in July 1814.
In 1819, Jones took charge of HMS Cherokee. This ship was based in Leith. After three years, he got a new job in 1827. He became the second captain of HMS Prince Regent. This was a very large ship. For a while, Prince Regent was the main ship for Henry Blackwood. Blackwood was now a high-ranking admiral.
On August 25, 1828, Jones was promoted to captain. He was 38 years old. He never sailed at sea again after this. But he still received pay. He retired from the navy in 1848. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1855. Then he became vice admiral in 1862. Finally, he became a full admiral in 1865.
Political Career
Becoming an MP
County Londonderry, where Jones was from, was mostly Protestant. In the early 1800s, two powerful families controlled its politics. These were the Beresford family (Marquess of Waterford) and the Stewart family (Marquess of Londonderry). These families often shared the county's two Parliament seats.
In 1829, there was a big change in politics. The Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, decided to support Catholic Emancipation. This meant allowing Catholics more rights. This decision surprised many people. The Beresford family needed a new candidate for Parliament. They chose Theobald Jones. His grandmother was a Beresford, so he was related to them.
Jones was a member of the Orange Order. This made him a good choice for the Beresfords. In the general election of August 1830, Jones was elected without opposition. He became a Member of Parliament (MP) for County Londonderry.
In Parliament
In his election speech, Jones said he would be independent. He said he would not just follow the government's lead. He stated he would have voted against the law that gave Catholics more rights. Later that year, he was called an "Ultra-Tory." This meant he was very conservative.
He voted against the Reform Bill in March 1831. This bill aimed to change how Parliament worked. He was re-elected in May 1831. He won against a challenge from Sir John Byng. When the revised Reform Bill came up, Jones voted against it at first. But he supported its final approval.
He was re-elected without a fight in 1832. He won four more elections without opposition. In 1852, he faced a challenge from a Liberal lawyer. But Jones kept his seat. He left Parliament in 1857 when he was 67 years old.
Studying Lichens
In May 1842, Jones became a member of the Linnean Society of London. This is a famous group for natural history. In 1858, a botanist named David Moore introduced Jones to another Irish botanist, Isaac Carroll. Jones and Carroll started writing letters to each other about lichens. These letters are now kept in the National Museum of Ireland. Some of their letters were published in a book in 1996.
In 1859, Jones joined the Dublin University Zoological and Botanical Association. Around 1860, this group asked Jones to collect many Irish lichens. He shared his findings in a paper in May 1864. Later, it was published as a book. Jones listed almost 350 types of lichens. Twenty of these had never been found in Ireland before.
Some of Jones's work is kept in London and Helsinki. He also gave a large collection of lichens to the natural history museum of the Royal Dublin Society (RDS). He had been a member of the RDS since 1838. The RDS later gave its museum and collections to the state in 1877. Jones's lichen collection was at the Natural History Museum of Ireland until 1970. Then, the museum moved all its plant collections to the National Botanic Gardens. Jones's collection is still there today. It is kept in its original special cabinets.
Jones was also a member of the Geological Society of London. He died in London on February 7, 1868. The society praised his large collection of fish fossils from Ireland.
