James William Webb-Jones

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James William Webb-Jones
Born21 February 1904
Died29 December 1965
Resting placeSt. Andrew's Church, Witham on the Hill, England
NationalityWelsh
EducationCranleigh School
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Choral conductor; Headmaster
Known for
Spouse(s)Barbara Bindon Moody (m. 1930, Windsor), d. of Colonel Richard S. Hawks Moody
Parents
Relatives

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

Family and early life[edit]

James William, who was born in Cowbridge, Glamorgan, Wales,[1] was the only child of the trans-European steamship agent[2][3][4] Ernest William Jones[5][6] (1870 – 1941),[7] who was the owner of M. Jones and Brothers (est. 1856)[2][8] and who was a first-class cricketer.[7] James William's mother was Aimée Elizabeth Parson (1873 – 1913),[5] who was the French-born daughter of James Holmes Parson who was a British merchant banker in Italy.[9] James William's parents were married at the British Consulate in Rouen, Haute Normandie, on 10 September 1900.[9]

James William's uncles included the gynaecologist Arthur Webb-Jones,[10] and Edwin Price Jones, who was Vice-Consul for Chile[11] and Secretary to the Chamber of Commerce.[2] James William was (through his cousin William (Bill) Wynn Jones[12] who was Anglican Bishop of Central Tanganyika)[13][14] a cousin of the National Party conservative Naomi Wilson OAM (b. 1940).[15] James William descended (through his mother Aimée Parson) from the Georgian property-developer James Burton, who was the father of the architect Decimus Burton.

Education[edit]

James William was educated at Cranleigh School,[5][16] for which he played cricket,[17] and at Worcester College, Oxford,[5][16] where he was Captain of Cricket.[5][16] He later attended the University of Grenoble in France,[5][16] where he received the Diplôme de Hautes Études.[5][16]

Worcester College, Oxford

James William's father Ernest, and his cousin William, and his son-in-law Peter, were members of the Jesters Cricket Club,[1] which was founded in 1928 by John 'Jock' Forbes Burnet (1910 - 1980) of St. Paul's School, London.[18] 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[edit]

Marriage[edit]

James William married, at the Parish Church, Windsor, on 20 December 1930,[6][16] Barbara Bindon[22] Moody[16][5] (1903 - 1973),[22] of Emperor's Gate, South Kensington,[6] who was the daughter of Colonel Richard Stanley Hawks Moody CB and the granddaughter of Major-General Richard Clement Moody (who was the founder and the first Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia). James Webb-Jones and Barbara Moody had only one child, Bridget (b. 5 September 1937),[5][23] who married the chorister Peter Stanley Lyons[23][16] at Wells Cathedral in 1957.[21][24] The godmother of Bridget Webb-Jones was Lady Walford Davies,[25] who was the wife of the composer Sir Henry Walford Davies KCVO OBE, who had been Master of the King's Music at St George's Chapel, Windsor, when James Webb-Jones had been Headmaster of St George's School, Windsor Castle. Lady Walford Davies later married Julian Harold Legge Lambart, who was Vice-Provost of Eton College, for which Witham Hall School became a preparatory school.[25][26]

Retirement and death[edit]

James William and his wife, Barbara, retired to Witham Hall,[16] where his son-in-law Peter Stanley Lyons was Headmaster of the School.[25][21][16] Webb-Jones's hobbies were cricket, and fives, and fishing,[5] and wine.[16] Webb-Jones kept a wine store in the basement of Vanbrugh Castle,[16][27] and died, possibly as a consequence of alcoholism,[16] at Witham Hall in 1965, and is buried at The Church of St. Andrew, Witham on the Hill.[16] His wife lived at Witham Hall until her death in 1973, after which she was buried next to her husband.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "James William Webb-Jones, Profile, Cricket Archive".
  2. ^ a b c "Entry for M. Jones and Brother, Steamship Agents, 1914 Who's Who in Business".
  3. ^ "No. 27514". The London Gazette. 9 January 1903. p. 191.
  4. ^ "No. 35525". The London Gazette. 14 April 1942. p. 1665.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "WEBB-JONES, James William (1904–1965)". Who's Who, Oxford Index. Oxford University Press.
  6. ^ a b c "Engagement Announcement of James William Webb-Jones and Barbara Bindon Moody". Engagements. The Times. London. 3 July 1930.
  7. ^ a b "Ernest Jones Profile, England Players, Cricket Archive".
  8. ^ "No. 27514". The London Gazette. 9 January 1903. p. 191.
  9. ^ a b Archives of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, 1900, British Consulate, Rouen, Haute Normandie.
  10. ^ 1851–1901 inc. Wales Census. Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851–1901 inc. Kew, Surrey, England: Records for Ernest W Jones: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO)
  11. ^ "No. 28726". The London Gazette. 6 June 1913. p. 3991.
  12. ^ "JONES, Rt Rev. William Wynn". Who's Who, Oxford Index. Oxford University Press.
  13. ^ "Entry for 'WYNN JONES, WILLIAM (BILL) (1900 - 1950)', Australian Dictionary of Evangelical Biography". Evangelical History Association. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  14. ^ "The Diocese of Central Tanganyika, Mission and History, Historical Background". The Diocese of Central Tanganyika. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  15. ^ "Former Members". Parliament of Queensland. 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Entry for James William Webb-Jones, Headmasters of Vanbrugh Castle School, Vanbrugh Castle School".
  17. ^ "JWW Jones, Profile, Cricket Archive".
  18. ^ "The Jesters Cricket Club: Club History".
  19. ^ Wridgway, Neville (1980). The Choristers of St George's Chapel. Chas. Luff & Co.
  20. ^ "Administrative and Special Duties Branch" (PDF). The London Gazette. 15 August 1942. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  21. ^ a b c "Entry for Lyons, Peter Stanley (1948)". Register of Twentieth Century Johnians, Volume I: 1900-1949. St John's College, Cambridge. 2004. p. 279.
  22. ^ a b "Entry for MOODY, Colonel Richard Stanley Hawks, in Who Was Who (A & C Black, Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016)".
  23. ^ a b "Profile for James William Webb-Jones, Vanbrugh Castle School".
  24. ^ Lyons, Peter Stanley, The Eagle, St John's College, Cambridge, December 2006
  25. ^ a b c Peter and Bridget Lyons and Witham Hall, Lincoln, Rutland & Stamford Mercury, Friday, 8 February 1985
  26. ^ Tatler, Guides, Schools Guide 2014, Prep, Witham Hall School
  27. ^ "Residential Staff, Vanbrugh Castle School".

Further reading[edit]