(446) Jones, later Jones-Bateman, of Pentre Mawr

Jones-Bateman of Pentre Mawr 

This family claimed descent from Cynfyn ap Gwerstan, prince of Powys, through a younger branch of the Joneses of Trewythen (Montgomerys), but their more certain genealogy begins with the Rev. William Jones (d. 1725?), who was vicar of Llanferres (Denbighshire) at the beginning of the 18th century. He had three sons, Hugh, John and Rowland, with whom the genealogy below begins, and three daughters. His sister Judith married Humphrey Williams of Pentre Mawr, Abergele (Denbigshire), and inherited that estate from him as they had no surviving children. When she died in 1724 she left it to William's son, the Rev. Hugh Jones (1697-1764), who also succeeded his father as rector of Llanferres the following year. Hugh, who later became vicar of Gresford (Denbighshire) and a canon of St. Asaph Cathedral, appears to have died unmarried, and his property passed to his younger brother, John Jones (1703-78) of Wrexham (Denbighshire). John, and almost certainly Hugh too, had their portraits painted by Richard Wilson in the 1730s, when the artist was just beginning his independent practice as an artist and spent some time at Llanferres, staying with relations at Colomendy Hall. Their patronage seems to have helped the artist become established, and it is possible that the portrait of 'Rowland Jones, an old bard, aged 90' at Chirk Castle was also of a relation.

John Jones died in 1778 and left Pentre Mawr to his nephew, Rowland Jones (1737-1812), who was a saddler in Chester, but also a member of the city corporation who served as Mayor in 1797-98. Rowland's only son, John Jones (1784-1849) was evidently articled to a solicitor in London, and having completed his training, attended Lincoln's Inn for a time, although he does not seem to have been called to the bar. He eventually became the senior partner in the solicitor's practice of Jones, Bateman, Bennett and Field, who occupied chambers in Lincoln's Inn Fields and acted for clients including the Earl of Thanet. He married, in 1824, Marianne Burleton (1799-1874), who has some reputation as an amateur artist, and over the next seven years they had three sons and three daughters, all of whom survived to adulthood. In about 1830, he rebuilt or remodelled the house at Pentre Mawr as a small neo-Tudor mansion, which the family used as a holiday home. In 1834, for reasons which are unclear but which must be connected with his legal practice, John sought royal licence to add the name Bateman to his patronymic, and he and his descendants were subsequently known as Jones-Bateman.

In 1849, the even tenor of the family's life was disrupted by an annus horribilis, which began in January with a fire at the chambers of the legal practice at 2 New Square, Lincoln's Inn Fields.

The Lincoln's Inn Fire of 1849, from the Illustrated London News, 20 January 1849

This blaze, which is said to have been the biggest fire in London for more than a decade, affected several legal gentlemen with chambers in the building and destroyed many documents which had been entrusted to their care, although Jones, Bateman & Bennett had fortunately invested in nine fireproof safes which preserved some of the most important. This upsetting and no doubt disruptive event was followed by - and indeed may have precipitated - the death of John Jones-Bateman himself on 14 July. Little over a month later, on 18 August, John's youngest son, Philip, aged 21, was drowned while swimming off the beach at Abergele. John left Pentre Mawr to his wife for life, but on 11 May 1850 that house also was burned down. One could not blame Marianne Jones-Bateman if she had felt persecuted by Fate after so many cruel blows in such a short time.

Pentre Mawr was rebuilt by 1853, and the remaining five children carried on with their lives. One bright spot in the annus horribilis was the ordaining of the eldest son, Rev. John Burleton Jones-Bateman (1825-1910) and his appointment as rector of Sheldon (Warks), a village near Birmingham, where he was to be the incumbent for sixty-one years, living at first at Olton Hall and later in the rectory.

Sheldon rectory

In 1852, Burleton (he seems to have dropped the John after his marriage) married Mary Jennens, the daughter of a local manufacturer, and they had ten children in the next fourteen years. Apart from one child who died young, the eight sons all had interesting lives, becoming in order of seniority a judge in India, Archdeacon of Zanzibar, a surgeon in Birmingham, a chaplain in the Mediterranean resorts favoured by English tourists, an international standard chess player, the Archdeacon of Southern Mexico... and a serial bigamist. The youngest son's inglorious career is an interesting illustration of how easy it was to lead a double, or even a triple, life in a world of poor communications and manual records, despite being possessed of the distinctive name 'Hastings Jones-Bateman', which he never troubled to change - although he did sometimes add Thomas as a first or second forename. In 1904 he twice found himself in court on charges of bigamy, although he got off on a technicality on both occasions. I have found no evidence that his first wife ever divorced him after the bigamy trial, although it seems likely that she would have done; if not, his fourth, fifth and sixth marriages would also have been bigamous!

Pentre Mawr descended to Rev. Burleton Jones-Bateman on his mother's death in 1874, and continued to be used chiefly as a holiday residence by the family. Burleton's eldest son, Herbert Burleton Jones-Bateman (1853-1918) retired from his career as a judge in India in 1904, and took his young family to live in north Wales, buying Eyarth Hall (Denbighs), a few miles inland from Pentre Mawr.

Eyarth Hall, Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd

When he inherited Pentre Mawr from his father in 1910 he did not move there, but let it as a school, and it was never occupied by the family again, although his sister Lilian built a bungalow on the estate in 1911 where she lived until her death in 1925. 

In 1913, Herbert and his son, Reginald (1894-1965) were out shooting on the Eyarth estate when they were told that an escaped convict - a man with a long list of convictions who was something of a popular hero because of his record of prison escapes - had been seen nearby. Herbert went to inform the police, but Reginald found the man and challenged him to stop and surrender.  When the man refused to do so and went to attack Reginald with a chisel, Reginald shot him in the leg, but unfortunately caught an artery so the man bled to death before help arrived. At the subsequent inquest the jury insisted on bringing in a verdict of manslaughter against Reginald, and he was accordingly sent for trial, although the Crown offered no evidence against him and the judge directed the jury to acquit him.

Herbert's three surviving sons were precisely of the generation to fight in the First World War, and all three were commissioned as junior officers, each eventually achieving the rank of Captain. The eldest son, Llewellyn, was killed in 1916, and Reginald was wounded in the same year. The youngest son, Frank, was killed a week before the Armistice, by which time Herbert himself was already dead, killed in what was deemed at the time to be a freak accident while salmon fishing in the River Dee. Herbert's widow appears to have lived on at Eyarth Hall with her two daughters, who never married, until her death in 1933, but Reginald joined the Ceylon Civil Service, and on his return to England in 1934 bought a house at Budleigh Salterton (Devon), where he lived with his wife and daughter. His younger sister, Margaret Jones-Bateman, went to Oxford to read law and in 1934 qualified as  a solicitor; she was among the first two hundred women to do so and later practised in St. Asaph.

Pentre Mawr, Abergele, Denbighshire

A manor house on this site is first mentioned in 1697, and was probably altered or rebuilt by the Jones family in the 18th century. It was further remodelled in the Tudor Gothic style in about 1830 for John Jones-Bateman. 

Pentre Mawr: the house in the early 20th century, from an old postcard.

On 11 May 1850, however, the house was seriously damaged by fire, and although it was possible for volunteers led by the local vicar to rescue many of the contents, contemporary press reports state that 'despite the efforts of the local fire brigade, it was found impossible to save the house, which in a few hours was completely gutted'. Reconstruction was quickly put in hand, and was apparently completed by 1853, possibly to the designs of John Welch of St. Asaph, who had worked on many of the local mansions. The external walls may have survived the fire, as the symmetrical entrance front, with an oriel in a battlemented two-storey porch, was said to be unchanged from its pre-fire appearance. 

The main front faces west and has five bays, with a battlemented two-storey porch with high angle buttresses and a canted oriel window lighting the chamber over the porch, which has Tudor arched lights and a crenellated parapet. To either side of the porch were two timber cross windows on each floor with a gable over and a high lancet window inset in the gable. Over the front door is an achievement of arms, with the inscription 'Spes Non Fracta'. The south end wall has a two-storey square bay of ashlar stone with three-light mullioned and transomed windows. At the rear is a parallel service range, built in unrendered stone rubble, which has an oriel window on the south end. 

Pentre Mawr: the side and rear elevations of the house. Image: RCAHMW AA54/2362.

The inside must have been very largely renewed after the fire, but some of the plasterwork is very much in the style of the 1830s, and so it may have been replaced to the original designs. By the 20th century the house had a good early 18th century Imperial staircase with ornamented tread ends, twisted balusters and Corinthian newels, which must have been imported although it is unclear whether this was installed after the fire or later.  In the 1870s the house was said to house 'many interesting... works of art, including several family portraits... by [Richard] Wilson, and one by Beechey of Barbara Lisle Bowles, the great-great-great niece of Sir Isaac Newton'. The house became a private school in 1913 and seems to have remained in this use until the Second World War, after which it was sold to the local council for use as offices. More recently, it was insensitively converted into twenty-four small flats, with much loss of interior detail, while some of the windows have also been replaced and the front block has been inappropriately rendered, further detracting from its appearance.

Descent: Humphrey Williams (fl. 1685); to widow, Judith Williams (d. 1724); to nephew, Rev. Hugh Jones (1697-1764); to brother, John Jones (1703-78); to nephew, Rowland Jones (1737-1812); to son, John Jones (later Jones-Bateman) (1784-1849); to widow, Marianne Jones-Bateman (1799-1874); to son, Rev. (John) Burleton Jones-Bateman (1825-1910); to son, Herbert Burleton Jones-Bateman (1853-1918); to son, Reginald Jones-Bateman (1894-1965). The house was leased as a school from 1913 and sold 1948 to Abergele Urban District Council.

Jones and Jones-Bateman family of Pentre Mawr

Rev. Hugh Jones (1697-1764) 

Jones, Rev. Hugh (1697-1764). Son of Rev. William Jones, rector of Llanferres (Denbighs) and his wife Martha, born 8 February and baptised at Llanferres, 10 February 1696/7. Educated at Jesus College, Oxford (matriculated 1715/6; BA 1719). Vicar of Hope, 1724-25; Rector of Llanferres, 1725-43 and vicar of Gresford (Denbighs.), 1743-64; prebendary of St Asaph's Cathedral. His portrait, attributed to Richard Wilson, was painted in 1734. He was probably unmarried, and had no issue.

He inherited Pentre Mawr in 1724 from his aunt Judith, widow of Humphrey Williams of Pentre Mawr. At his death it passed to his brother John.

He died 12 March and was buried at Gresford, 15 March 1764; administration of his goods was granted 1 May 1764.

John Jones (1703-78)

Jones, John (1703-78). Son of Rev. William Jones, rector of Llanferres (Denbighs) and his wife Martha, born 11 August and baptised at Llanferres, 14 August 1703.  He was a signficiant early patron of the artist Richard Wilson, and his portrait by Wilson, of 1738, is the earliest surviving securely dated portrait by the artist. He was probably unmarried and had no issue.

He lived at Wrexham (Denbighs) but inherited Pentre Mawr from his elder brother in 1764. At his death it passed to his nephew, Rowland Jones (1737-1812).

He may be the 'Mr. John Jones, gent., excise officer, Wrexh[a]m'  buried at Gresford, 14 January 1778, although no other record of his being connected with the excise has been found; his will was proved 28 March 1778.

Jones, Rowland (b. 1704). Son of Rev. William Jones, rector of Llanferres (Denbighs) and his wife Martha, born 16 November and baptised at Llanferres, 21 November 1704. He apparently married, 21 October 1731 at Fitz (Shropshire), Mary Birch, and had issue, probably among others:

(1) Hugh Jones (b. 1735), baptised at St Mary, Shrewsbury, 11 September 1735;

(2) Rowland Jones (1737-1812) (q.v.);

(3) Martha Jones (fl. 1812); married [forename unknown] Smith.

He lived in Shrewsbury.

His date of death is unknown. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Jones, Rowland (1737-1812). Son of Rowland Jones (b. 1704) of Shrewsbury and his wife Mary Birch, baptised at St Mary, Shrewsbury (Shrops.), 18 March 1736/7. Saddler in Chester. Alderman of Chester (Sheriff, 1781-82 and Mayor, 1797-98). He married, 11 August 1773 at Shotwick (Ches.), Jane (c.1751-1843?), daughter of Richard? Lloyd of Great Saughall, Shotwick, and had issue:

(1) Margaret Jones (b. & d. 1774), baptised at St. Peter, Chester, 19 September 1774; died in infancy and was buried, 11 October 1774;

(2) Patricia (k/a Patty) Jones (1775-1845), baptised at St Peter, Chester, 17 November 1775; married, 1 January 1802 at St Michael, Chester, Dr. Samuel Nevett Bennett (1779-1844) of Chester, surgeon, and had issue one son and four daughters; died 2 December 1845 and was buried at Shotwick (Ches.);

(3) Elizabeth Jones (1777-1836), baptised at St Peter, Chester, 6 May 1777; married, 23 January 1818 at St John, Chester, Hugh Colley (c.1780-1865) of Chester, woollen draper; died without issue and was buried at St Mary, Chester, 10 April 1836;

(4) Jane Jones (b. 1781), baptised at St Peter, Chester, 15 May 1781; living in Queen Street, Chester in 1851 and probably died unmarried;

(5) Mary Jones (b. 1783), baptised at St Peter, Chester, 26 February 1783; living with her sister in Queen St., Chester in 1851 and probably died unmarried;

(6) John Jones (later Jones-Bateman) (1784-1849) (q.v.).

He inherited Pentre Mawr from his uncle, John Jones, in 1778.

He died 31 October 1812; his will was proved in the PCC, 12 December 1812. His widow may be the woman of that name buried at St John, Chester, 27 March 1843.

Jones (later Jones-Bateman), John (1784-1849). Only son of Rowland Jones (1737-1812) and his wife Jane, daughter of Richard? Lloyd of Great Saughall, Shotwick (Ches.), born 3 September 1784 and baptised at Chester, 29 June 1785. Educated at a solicitor's office in the Middle Temple and at Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1814). Solicitor; senior partner in Jones, Bateman, Bennett & Field, of Lincolns Inn Fields, London; auditor and land agent to the Earl of Thanet. He took the additional surname of Bateman in 1834. He married, 24 August 1824 at Donhead St Mary (Wilts), Marianne (1799-1874), daughter of William Burleton of Wyken Hall (Leics) and Donhead Lodge, and had issue:

(1) Rev. John Burleton Jones-Bateman (1825-1910) (q.v.);

(2) Rowland Lloyd Jones-Bateman (1826-96), born 10 November 1826 and baptised at St Pancras, 15 August 1827; educated at Winchester College, Trinity and New Colleges, Oxford (matriculated 1845; BA 1848; MA 1852; cricket blue, 1846, 1848), Lincolns Inn (admitted 1848) and Inner Temple (called 1852); barrister-at-law, who worked as an equity draughtsman and conveyancer; Fellow of New College, Oxford, 1846-59; married, 12 August 1858 at Holy Trinity, St Marylebone (Middx), his first cousin, Jessy Jane Marianne (1839-1914), eldest daughter of Col. William Burleton of Portland Place, London, and had issue one son and one daughter; lived latterly at Otterbourne Grange, Winchester (Hants) and died there, 16 December 1896; administration of goods granted 3 March 1897 (effects £30,001) and 8 November 1912;

(3) twin, Philip Wythen Jones-Bateman (1828-49), baptised at St Pancras, 1 August 1828; educated at Eton; drowned while bathing at Abergele, 18 August 1849; administration of goods granted to his brother Rowland, 20 January 1876 (effects under £2,000);

(4) twin, Marianne Emily Jones-Bateman (1828-73), baptised at St Pancras, 1 August 1828; married, 9 August 1850 at Holy Trinity, St. Marylebone (Middx), Charles Hill (b. 1822), son of James Haydock Hill of Berry Hill, Mansfield (Notts), and had issue three sons; died 8 May 1873;

(5) Ellen Jones-Bateman (1829-1902), born 1829; baptised at St Pancras, 16 July 1830; married, 20 February 1851 at Holy Trinity, St. Marylebone, Robert Bamford-Hesketh (1826-94) of Gwyrch Castle (Denbighs.) and had issue one daughter (Winifred Bamford-Hesketh (d. 1924), who succeeded her father at Gwyrch Castle; married, 18 September 1878, Lt-Gen Douglas Mackinnon Baillie Hamilton Cochrane (1852-1935), 12th Earl of Dundonald, and had issue); lived latterly at Torquay (Devon), but died suddenly while on a visit to Gwyrch, 27 August, and was buried at Llandulas (Denbighs.), 30 August 1902; will proved 10 October 1902 (estate £174,808);

(6) Susan Bowles Jones-Bateman (1831-78), baptised at St Pancras, 25 July 1831; married, 27 January 1863 at St Marylebone (Middx), George Deeks Skingley (1812-88), son of Henry Skingley, esq.; died at Folkestone (Kent), 14 October 1878; will proved 19 December 1878 (effects under £18,000).

He inherited Pentre Mawr from his father in 1812 and remodelled it about 1830. His widow rebuilt the house in c.1853 after a fire in 1850. By an unhappy coincidence, his chambers in Lincolns Inn were destroyed by fire in January 1849.

He died in London, 14 July 1849 and was buried at Abergele, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 12 November 1849. His widow died 25 November and was buried at Abergele, 1 December 1874; her will was proved 5 April 1875 (effects under £18,000).

Jones-Bateman, Rev. (John) Burleton (1825-1910). Eldest son of John Jones (later Jones-Bateman) (1784-1849) and his wife Marianne, daughter of William Burleton of Wyken Hall (Leics), born 21 June 1825 and baptised at St Pancras, 15 August 1827. Educated at Winchester and Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge (matriculated 1844; BA 1848; MA 1851; cricket blue, 1848). Ordained deacon and priest, 1849. Rector of Sheldon (Warks), 1849-1910; Rural Dean of Coleshill, 1859-1910; a surrogate in the diocese of Birmingham, 1905-10. He married, 8 June 1852, Mary (1833-1911), daughter of Joseph Jennens of Small Heath, Birmingham, and had issue:

(1) Herbert Burleton Jones-Bateman (1853-1918) (q.v.);

(2) Marion Jones-Bateman (1854-1933), baptised at Sheldon, 5 November 1854; died unmarried, 9 March 1933; will proved 11 May 1923 (estate £17,771);

(3) Newton Jones-Bateman (1855-56), baptised at Sheldon, 2 December 1855; died in infancy and was buried at Sheldon, 29 March 1856;

(4) Ven. Percy Lisle Jones-Bateman (1857-97), baptised at Sheldon, 4 October 1857; educated at Uppingham School and Clare College, Cambridge (matriculated 1876; BA 1880; MA 1891); ordained deacon, 1880 and priest, 1884; missionary in Zanzibar, 1880-86; Principal and Chaplain, Kiungani Theological College, Zanzibar, 1886-97; Archdeacon of Zanzibar, 1889-97; Chancellor of Christ Church Cathedral, Zanzibar, 1896-97; died at Zanzibar, 25 October 1897; will proved 12 January 1898 (estate £647);

(5) Llewellyn Jones-Bateman (1859-89), born 8 February and baptised at Sheldon, 3 April 1859; educated at Haileybury and Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge (matriculated 1878; BA 1882; MB and BCh, 1884); Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, 1884; practised in Birmingham, where he was resident Medical Officer at the Jaffray and other Birmingham Hospitals; author of medical texts; died at Bournemouth, 20 November 1889 and was buried at Sheldon, 25 November 1889;

(6) Rev. Cecil Jones-Bateman (1860-1945), born 8 October and baptised at Sheldon, 2 December 1860; educated at Haileybury and Clare College, Cambridge (matriculated 1880; BA 1884; MA 1895); ordained deacon, 1884, and priest, 1885; held a series of curacies in England, 1884-1909; chaplain at Madeira, 1909-13, Florence, 1920-21, Capri, 1921-22 and Christ Church, Nice (France), 1922-25; vicar of Toddington with Stanley Pontlarge (Glos), 1926-36, when he retired to Cheltenham (Glos); a freemason from 1913; married 1st, 29 November 1887 at St James, Paddington (Middx), Marianne Smith (1857-1914), third daughter of Robert Ritson of Glenbank, Maryport (Cumbld) and had issue one daughter; married 2nd, 7 September 1915, Sibyl Rita Byrom (1886-1984), daughter of Edward Rowland Corrie of Coombe Wood, Branksome Park, Bournemouth (Hants), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died in Bournemouth, 14 October 1945; will proved 4 December 1945 (estate £18,645);

(7) Ernest Jones-Bateman (1862-1929), baptised at Sheldon, 4 May 1862; as a young man, he worked in a bank; later moved to London where he was a noted chess player and took part in several championship congresses; moved to Exmouth on his marriage, 12 January 1905 at Littleham-cum-Exmouth (Devon), to Georgiana Herbert (1861-1938), daughter of James Capell of Weston-super-Mare (Som.) and widow of Rev. Charles Edward Strong (1814-99), vicar of Withycombe Raleigh (Devon), but had no issue; died 18 June 1929; will proved 29 August 1929 (estate £15,022);

(8) Lilian Jones-Bateman (1863-1925), baptised at Sheldon, 2 August 1863; built a bungalow called Cae Glas on the upper portion of the Pentre Mawr estate in 1911, to the designs of D. MacDougall of Abergele; died 19 May 1925; will proved 15 August 1925 (estate £12,045);

(9) Rev. Wilfred Jones-Bateman (1865-1937), born 12 February and baptised at Sheldon, 2 April 1865; educated at Haileybury and Selwyn College, Cambridge (matriculated 1883; BA 1886; MA 1890); ordained deacon, 1888 and priest, 1890; held curacies in England, 1888-93; rector of St. George, Grenada, 1893-1903; chaplain to the bishop, 1894-1904 and canon of the Windward Islands, 1905; rector of Christ Church, Mexico City, 1903-12; archdeacon of Southern Mexico, 1905-12; moved to Godinch, Ontario (Canada) about 1912; served in First World War as chaplain to the Canadian Forces, 1914-19; married, 11 September 1895 at Sewickly, Allegheny, Pennsylvania (USA), Annie Eleanor Bennett (1870-1948), of Pittsburgh (USA) and had issue two sons; died following an operation for a burst appendix at Huron, Ontario, 28 July, and was buried at Maitland Cemetery, Huron, 30 July 1937;

(10) Hastings Jones-Bateman (1866-1934), born 17 March and baptised at Sheldon, 6 May 1866; for reasons unknown he was disowned by his family who sent him to Canada in disgrace with a final severance payment of £13,000 in 1885, where he bought a farm and married 1st, 4 January 1886 at Chatham, Ontario (Canada), Harriet (1865-1929), daughter of John Johnson, and had issue one son; in 1890 he left his wife and child to make a visit to England, but on his return he went straight to California to start a new life as a journalist; there he married 2nd, bigamously, 29 March 1901 at Santa Ana, California (sep. 1902; annulled 1904), Florence M. (b. c.1882), daughter of Edwin Bird; having left his second wife he married 3rd (again bigamously), 15 February 1904 at the RC Church in Pasadena, California (annulled 1904), Catherine Quin, whose sister discovered his previous marriage to Miss Bird; he was twice tried for bigamy but escaped gaol on technical grounds, even though he effectively admitted the offence; the press reported "no mention is made in the complaint... of the wives that Bateman had fitted into his life between 1886 and 1901, but he is a large-hearted man and they are many"; by 1910 he was a clerk in the Post Office, but he later came into or made money and by 1920 gave his occupation as 'capitalist'; he married* 4th, 4 May 1915 at San Diego, California (sep. by 1920; div. 1923 on grounds of his adultery), Wanda Caroline Becker (1890-1972) (who m2, 30 January 1928, Abelson Epstein MD (1889-1977), physician and surgeon); he married 5th, 2 March 1923 at Modesto, California, Ida Elizabeth Hallonquist, with whom he had been living for some years, but this ended in an acrimonious divorce on grounds of his cruelty in 1924; he finally married 6th, c.1926, Betty [surname unknown] (b. 1893); he died at Santa Clara, California, 13 October 1934.

He inherited Pentre Mawr from his mother. He lived at Olton Hall, Solihull (Warks) in the earlier years of his ministry at Sheldon, but later moved to Sheldon rectory.

He died at Sheldon, 29 December 1910; his will was proved 23 February 1911 (estate £94,592). His widow died 24 June 1911; her will was proved 29 July 1911 (estate £6,728).

* His first wife was then still living, but it is possible she divorced him after the events of 1904.

Jones-Bateman, Herbert Burleton (1853-1918). Eldest son of John Burleton Jones-Bateman (1825-1910) and his wife Mary Jennens,  born at Olton Hall, 4 May and baptised at Sheldon (Warks), 10 July 1853. Educated at Marlborough College, 1866-71 and Lincolns Inn (admitted 1875). An officer in the Indian Civil Service, 1874-1904, where he served as Assistant Commissioner and joint magistrate in the North-West Provinces and Oudh, 1876-92 and then as district and sessions court judge, 1892-1904. He married, 11 October 1887 at Henllan (Denbighs.), Evelyn (1863-1933), younger daughter of Rev. Hugh Edward Heaton of Plas Heaton, Henllan, and had issue:

(1) Llewellyn Jones-Bateman (1889-1916), born at Azamgarh (India), 28 January and baptised there, 17 March 1889; educated at Malvern College, Wellington College and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; an officer in the Royal Field Artillery (2nd Lt, 1909; Lt. 1912; T/Capt., 1915); died unmarried, of wounds received in action, 19 March 1916 and was buried at Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais (France); will proved 12 May 1916 (estate £185);

(2) Mary Catherine Jones-Bateman (1890-91), born 31 May and was baptised at Cawnpore, Bengal (India), 13 July 1890; died in infancy, 15 December and was buried at Gorakhpur, Bengal (India), 17 December 1891;

(3) Gilbert Jones-Bateman (1892-93), born 20 March and baptised at Gorakhpur, 17 April 1892; died in infancy, 18 November and was buried at Saharanpur, Bengal (India), 19 November 1893;

(4) Reginald Jones-Bateman (1894-1965) (q.v.);

(5) Francis Jones-Bateman (1895-1918), born 29 November and baptised at Saharanpur, 31 December 1895; educated at Rugby, 1909-14; he served in the First World War in the 3rd battalion, Welsh Fusiliers (2nd Lt., 1914; Lt., 1915; Capt. 1915), and was wounded in 1915 and killed in action near Englefontein (France), 4 November 1918; buried in the Cross Roads Cemetery, Fontaine-au-Bois (France);

(6) Beatrice Jones-Bateman (b. 1899), born 8 March and baptised at Lucknow, 20 April 1899; served as a VAD nurse, 1919; lived at Plas Heaton (Denbighs.) in 1952; died unmarried after 1953;

(7) Margaret Jones-Bateman (1900-70), born 13 August 1900; educated at Society of Home Students, Oxford (BCL 1928) and Grays Inn, and qualified as a solicitor, 1934; lived at St. Asaph (Flints); died unmarried, 5 June 1970; will proved 4 September 1970 (estate £19,095).

He inherited the Pentre Mawr estate from his father in 1910, but let it as a private school from 1913 and lived at Eyarth Hall, Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd (Denbighs.).

He died as a result of an accident while salmon fishing in the River Dee, 19 July 1918, and was buried at Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd; his will was proved 30 September 1918 (estate £35,166). His widow was buried at Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, 22 September 1933; her will was proved 4 December 1933 (estate £32,738).

Jones-Bateman, Reginald (1894-1965). Third, but eldest surviving son of Herbert Burleton Jones-Bateman (1853-1918) and his wife Evelyn, younger daughter of Rev. Hugh Edward Heaton of Plas Heaton (Denbighs.), born 23 April and baptised at Mussoorie, Bengal (India), 1 June 1894. Educated at Rugby, 1907-13 and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1913; scholar). In 1913 he attempted to detain an escaped convict called John Jones, an habitual criminal who seems to have been something of a popular hero, and shot him in the leg; the man died from shock and loss of blood and the inquest jury sent Jones-Bateman for trial for manslaughter, but the Crown declined to offer evidence against him and he was acquitted at the direction of the judge. He served in the First World War with the Welsh Regiment (2nd Lt., 1915; Lt. 1917; T/Capt., 1918). He was wounded in 1916, and was part of the North Russia Expeditionary Force, June-November 1918. He was an officer in the Ceylon Civil Service, 1919-34, where he served under the Superintendent of Census and Director of Statistics, 1921-24, as Assistant Government Agent, Mullaittivu, 1924-26 and Kandy, 1926-27, and as Assistant Settlement Officer, 1927-34.  He was the author of  A refuge from civilisation (1931) about life in Ceylon, An illustrated guide to the buried cities of Ceylon (1932), and also of the controversial Some new principles of auction bridge (1929; 2nd edn, 1939). He married, 29 January 1925, Dorothy (1898-1981), daughter of John Owen Cook of Diss (Norfk), and had issue:

(1) Patricia Jones-Bateman (1927-2003), born 9 July 1927; educated at Howell's School, Denbigh; died unmarried, 27 May 2003; will proved 16 July 2003.

He inherited Pentre Mawr from his father in 1918, but continued to let it as a school until he sold it to Abergele Urban District Council in 1948. After returning from Ceylon, he lived at 'Inner Ting Tong', Budleigh Salterton (Devon).

He died 16 September 1965; will proved 4 January 1966 (estate £39,266). His widow died 23 November 1981; her will was proved 22 January 1982 (estate £138,442).

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1952, p. 129; E. Hubbard, The buildings of Wales: Clwyd, 1986, p. 99; M. Baker, 'The development of the Welsh country house', Cardiff Univ. PhD thesis, 2015, pp. 262-63; https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/files/bangor/60_2002_2002.xml.

Location of archives

Jones and Jones-Bateman of Pentre Mawr: deeds and estate records, 1531-1866 [National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth: Pentre Mawr collection]

Coat of arms

Quarterly : 1st and 4th, or, a lion rampant gules, armed and langued of the first ; 2nd and 3rd, argent, a chevron sable, between three boars' heads of the second.

Can you help?

• Can anyone supply a view of Pentre Mawr before it was rebuilt in 1830, or between 1830 and the fire of 1850?
• Does anyone know more about Rowland Jones (b. 1704) of Shrewsbury, who remains a shadowy figure?
• I should be most grateful if anyone can provide photographs or portraits of people whose names appear in bold above, and who are not already illustrated. 
• Any additions or corrections to the text above will be gratefully received and incorporated.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 11 February 2021 and was updated 12 February 2021 and 4 July 2023.