Towyn Jones

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Towyn Jones
Towyn Jones.jpg
Member of Parliament
for Llanelli
East Carmarthenshire (1912–1918)
In office
22 August 1912 – 15 November 1922
Preceded byAbel Thomas
Succeeded byJohn Henry Williams
Personal details
Born(1858-12-28)28 December 1858
New Quay, Cardiganshire, Wales, United Kingdom
Died16 November 1925(1925-11-16) (aged 66)
Political partyLiberal

Josiah Towyn Jones (28 December 1858 – 16 November 1925) was a Welsh clergyman and Liberal Party politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Carmarthenshire East and later for Llanelli.[1]

He was born in New Quay, Cardiganshire, and began work as a farm labourer aged 11. A year later he went to sea as a cabin boy, later working as a ship's cook and steward.[1]

In 1876 he entered the Presbyterian College, Carmarthen. In 1880 he became a Congregationalist minister at Dowlais near Merthyr Tydfil. In 1884 he began a 22-year spell as minister at Cwmamman in the Amman Valley, Carmarthenshire.[1] At this time he was a close political associate of leading Welsh Liberals Tom Ellis and David Lloyd George.[1]

He married Mary Howells of Plas Cadwgan in the Swansea Valley in 1885 and they had two daughters.[1]

In the late 1880s he emerged as a critic of local Liberal MP David Pugh. For twenty years he acted as agent for Abel Thomas, Liberal MP for Carmarthenshire East. When Thomas died in 1912, Towyn Jones replaced him at the ensuing by-election. Under the Representation of the People Act 1918 the East Carmarthenshire seat was abolished, and he was instead elected as MP for the new seat of Llanelli at the general election of that year, retiring at the 1922 election.[1]

During World War I, he opposed conscription, but nevertheless took office in the coalition government, becoming a Whip and Junior Lord of the Treasury. When the Welsh Guards were formed during the war he enthusiastically helped in recruiting for the new regiment.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Obituary: Mr Towyn Jones". The Times. 17 November 1925. p. 16.

External links[]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Abel Thomas 		Member of Parliament for Carmarthenshire East
1912 – 1918 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Llanelli
1918 – 1922 		Succeeded by
John Henry Williams
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