The Rt. Rev. William Wynn Jones (10 November 1900 – 29 May 1950) was Welsh educator and clergyman in New South Wales, Australia, who served as Anglican Bishop of Central Tanganyika, Africa, from 1948 until his death by a car accident in 1950.
Family William (Bill) Wynn Jones, who was born into an upper middle class family in Swansea, Wales, on 10 November 1900, was the youngest son of the Welsh chartered shipbroker Matthew Tertius Jones (1853 - 1912) who was a partner of the Welsh international chartered shipbrokerage M. Jones and Bro. (1856 - 1942),The Western Mail, 02 March 1912, p. 3 which had been founded by his grandfather Matthew Jones Junior (b. 1828) and his great-grandfather Matthew Jones Senior (1800 - 1867). Wynn Jones's mother was Margaret Veal Ford (1860 - 1947).
Wynn Jones's five siblings included The Rev. Matthew Kenneth Jones (b. 1891), Rector of St Andrew's Anglican Church, Roseville, Australia,The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 July 1947, p.4, New Bishop Appointed who was taken prisoner, to the P.O.W. Camp Changi, at the fall of Singapore whilst serving as senior chaplain to the Commonwealth armed forces in Malaya;The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 January 1943, p.9, Assistant Bishop's Consecration Major Eric Ford Jones (b. 1889) of the Royal Field Artillery; Cyril Jones (b. 1891) who emigrated to Victoria, British Columbia; and Jenny Jones (b. 1901).
Wynn Jones's paternal uncle was polyglot Edwin Price Jones (1855 - 1924),The Herald of Wales, 20 September 1941, 'Well-Known Docksman and Cricketer', p.3 who (after a lauded pupillage at the Royal Masonic School, Wood Green)The Freemasons' Magazine and Masonic Mirror, Vol. 23, June to December 1870, Published for The Freemasons' Magazine Company, Strand, London, 1870, pp. 53-54The Freemasons' Magazine and Masonic Mirror, December 1869, pp. 73-74 was Vice-Consul for Chile and President of the Swansea Chamber of Commerce. Wynn Jones's cousins included the international chartered shipbroker Ernest William Jones, who inherited M. Jones and Bro. (1856 - 1942), and the same's son the choral educator James William Webb-Jones; and the prominent gynaecologist Arthur Webb-Jones.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)
Father's Suicide Wynn Jones's father Matthew Tertius Jones committed suicide, using 'Prussic acid' (hydrogen cyanide) which he claimed to need to kill a dog, during February 1912. He left a note to his wife that asserted that he had treated her badly and that he had been a poor father to his children.
Marriage and Descendants Wynn Jones in 1933 married Ruth L. Minton Taylor, who was a granddaughter of the Premier of Tasmania Henry Dobson and a staff member of Mvumi Girls School. Their two sons and two daughters, who were born at Arusha European School,A History of Arusha School, Tanzania, David Nettelbeck, p.79, 'Appendix M, Tribute to Rt. Rev. William Wynn Jones' included the Tanzanian-born conservative Naomi Wilson OAM (b. 1940), who was a National Party of Australia member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1995 to 1998.
Education Wynn Jones was educated at Queen's College, Taunton, England, until he accepted the invitation of The Reverend George Chambers to emigrate to Australia, where he in Sydney matriculated at Trinity Grammar School (New South Wales), subsequent to which he received from the University of Sydney a BA in 1922 and an MA in 1927.
He played for the English Jesters Cricket Club, of which his cousin James William Webb-Jones had been a co-founder,Obituary for James William Webb-Jones, The Cheddar Valley Gazette, 07 January 1966 and of which his cousin Ernest William Jones was a member.
Career Wynn Jones in 1921 he joined the staff of Trinity Grammar School as a house and sports master. There is now a school senior house at Trinity Grammar School that is named after him.
He was ordained as a deacon in 1925, and as a priest 1926, and was appointed curate at Holy Trinity, Dulwich Hill, New South Wales, where he was involved in the Boy Scout movement.
He in 1927 joined CMS for missionary service in Central Tanganyika under Bishop Chambers, during which he became Principal of Kongwa Theological College. Wynn Jones was in 1941 appointed as the first headmaster of Arusha European School, then subsequently in 1941 as Chancellor of the Diocese, then in 1947 as Assistant Bishop of Central Tanganyika, then in 1948 as Second Bishop of Central Tanganyika.
He in 1948 attended the Lambeth Conference and he in May 1949 received an Honorary Lambeth Doctorate of Divinity.
Death Wynn Jones died by a car accident in 1950, and was buried in Dar es Salaam ('haven of peace'), Tanzania. He was reinterred by the Anglican Church of Tanzania in the graveyard adjacent to the Anglican Cathedral in Dodoma.Grave of William Wynn Jones (1900 - 1950), Anglican Cathedral of Dodoma, Diocese of Central Tanganyika
Further reading
References