James William Webb-Jones

James William Webb-Jones (1904–1965) was a Welsh choral conductor, educator, and cricketer.

Birth and family[]

James William was born in Cowbridge, Glamorgan, Wales.^[1] He was the only child of Ernest William Jones^[2] of Glamorgan^[3] (1870–1941),^[4] a trans-European maritime transport magnate, who was the co-owner of the steamship agents M. Jones and Brothers,^[5][6] and who was also a first-class cricketer,^[4] and his wife, Aimée Elizabeth Parson (1873–1913),^[2] who was the French-born daughter of James Holmes Parson, a British merchant banker in Italy.^[7] His parents were married at the British Consulate in Rouen, Haute Normandie, on 10 September 1900.^[7] James William's uncles included Arthur Webb-Jones, the eminent British gynaecologist,^[8] and Edwin Jones, Vice-Consul for Chile^[9] and Secretary to the Chamber of Commerce.^[5] James William's second cousin, William Wynne Jones, was Anglican Bishop of Central Tanganyika.^[10] Through his mother, Aimée Parson, James William was a descendant of the London property developer James Burton, who was the father of the architect Decimus Burton.

James William was educated at Cranleigh School,^[2][11][12] for which he played cricket,^[13] and at Worcester College, Oxford,^[2][11][12] where he was Captain of Cricket.^[2][11] He later attended the University of Grenoble in France,^[2][11][12] where he received the Diplôme de Hautes Études.^[2][11]

Worcester College, Oxford

The Quire of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle

James William was a member of the original side of the Jesters Cricket Club,^[1] which was founded in 1928 by John 'Jock' Forbes Burnet (1910 - 1980) of St. Paul's School, London.^[14] James William's father, Ernest; his cousin, William Wynne Jones; and his son-in-law, Peter, were members of the Club. James William played for the Jesters, alongside his father, against the Eton College Servants, in 1931, and, alongside his cousin William, against Chertsey, also in 1931.^[1]

Career[]

• Assistant Headmaster of St George's School, Windsor Castle, from 1928 to 1934.^[2][11]
• Headmaster of St George's School, Windsor Castle, from 1934 to 1942.^[15][2][11]
• He left St George's School in 1942, to serve in the Royal Air Force during World War II, from 1942 to 1945.^[2][11][16]
• Housemaster, Wellington School, Somerset, from 1945 to 1950.^[2][11]
• Headmaster of Vanbrugh Castle School from 1951 to 1955.^[2][11]
• Headmaster of from 1955 to 1964,^[2][11] where Peter Lyons, the husband of his daughter, Bridget, was Director of Music from 1954 to 1960.^[17]

Marriage[]

James William married Barbara Bindon Moody,^[11][2] of Emperor's Gate, South Kensington,^[3] the daughter of Colonel Richard Stanley Hawks Moody CB and granddaughter of Richard Clement Moody, the first Governor of the Falkland Islands and later Governor of British Columbia, at the Parish Church, Windsor on 20 December 1930.^[2][11] Webb-Jones and Barbara Moody had one daughter, Bridget (b. 5 September 1937),^[2][18] who married Peter Stanley Lyons^[18][11] at Wells Cathedral in 1957.^[17][19] The godmother of Bridget Webb-Jones was Lady Walford Davies^[20] wife of composer Sir Henry Walford Davies KCVO OBE, who had been Master of the King's Music at St George's Chapel when James William had been Headmaster of St George's School, Windsor Castle. Lady Walford Davies later married Julian Harold Legge Lambart, Vice-Provost of Eton College, for which Witham Hall School is a preparatory school.^[20][21]

Retirement and Death[]

James William and his wife, Barbara, retired to Witham Hall,^[11] where his son-in-law Peter Stanley Lyons was Headmaster of the school.^[20][17][11] In his Who's Who entry, Webb-Jones states his hobbies to be cricket, fives, and fishing.^[2] He enjoyed wine, and had kept a wine store in the basement of Vanbrugh Castle whilst he lived there,^[11] with his wife, Barbara, from 1951 to 1955.^[22] James William Webb-Jones died at Witham Hall in 1965, and he is buried at Witham Hall.^[11] His wife continued to live at Witham Hall until her death in 1973, whereupon she was buried there next to her husband.

Further reading[]

• "WEBB-JONES, James William (1904–1965)". Who's Who, Oxford Index. Oxford University Press.
• "Entry for James William Webb-Jones, Headmasters of Vanbrugh Castle School, Vanbrugh Castle School".
• "Profile for James William Webb-Jones, Vanbrugh Castle School".
• "Entry for M.Jones and Brother, Steamship Agents, Who's Who in Business (1914)".

References[]