William Jones (Arfon MP)

William Jones (1859 – 9 May 1915) was a British Liberal Party politician.

William Jones
Member of Parliament for Arfon
In office 13 July 1895 – 9 May 1915
Preceded by	William Rathbone
Succeeded by	Caradoc Rees
Personal details
Born	1859
Died	(1915-05-09)9 May 1915
Political party	Liberal

Early history

Jones was born in 1859 the son of W. Jones, a peasant farmer. He was educated first at the British school at Llangefni, later becoming the pupil-teacher there. He continued his education at Bangor Normal College, the University College of Wales, Aberystwith and finally at Oxford University.[1] He became a country schoolmaster, then an Assistant Master at Anglesey, Cardiganshire and then under the London School Board, and afterwards he worked as a private tutor at Oxford.[2]

Political career

Jones entered the House of Commons as Liberal MP for Arfon in the 1895 general election;

General election 1895: Arfon [3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Jones	4,488	61.1	n/a
	Conservative	Prof. A W Hughes	2,860	38.9	n/a
Majority			1,628	22.2	n/a
Turnout				83.3	n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

He was re-elected unopposed in 1900 and in 1906;

General election 1906: Arfon [4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Jones	5,945	70.1	n/a
	Conservative	Arthur E Hughes	2,533	29.9	n/a
Majority			3,412	40.2	n/a
Turnout				85.2	n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

In parliament he supported the 1908 Women's Enfranchisement Bill.[5] He was re-elected at the January 1910;

General election January 1910: Arfon [6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Jones	6,223	70.3
	Conservative	Arthur E Hughes	2,629	29.7
Majority			3,594	40.6
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

He was elected unopposed at the December 1910 election. In 1911 was appointed to the Liberal administration of H. H. Asquith as a government whip. He died in office in May 1915.

References

1. Liberal Year Book 1907
2. Debrett's House of Commons 1901
3. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
4. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
5. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1908/feb/28/womens-enfranchisement-bill-1
6. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by William Jones

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Rathbone	Member of Parliament for Arfon 1895 – 1915	Succeeded by Caradoc Rees
Political offices
Preceded by Oswald Partington John Gulland William Wedgwood Benn Ernest Soares Percy Illingworth	Junior Lord of the Treasury 1911–1915 With: John Gulland 1911–1915 William Wedgwood Benn 1911–1915 Ernest Soares 1911 Percy Illingworth 1911–1912 Freddie Guest 1911–1912 Arthur Haworth 1912 Henry Webb 1912–1915 Cecil Beck 1915 Walter Rea 1915	Succeeded by William Wedgwood Benn Henry Webb Cecil Beck Walter Rea