Idris Jones

Walter Idris Jones CBE (18 January 1900 – 5 July 1971) was a Welsh industrial chemist and international rugby union player. He captained the Wales national rugby union team on one occasion in 1925. Jones played his club rugby for Llanelli RFC.

Private life and education Jones was born in Llanelli on 18 January 1900, the son of Frederick and Elizabeth Jones. His father worked in the tinplate industry. He was the brother of the politician Lord Elwyn-Jones. and was captain in the Ireland v Wales match in Belfast on 14 March 1925.

Career In 1926, Jones joined the research staff of Imperial Chemical Industries in Billingham, County Durham. In 1933, he returned to Wales as Research Manager for the Powell Duffryn Coal Company, where he developed 'Phurnacite' smokeless coal briquettes and worked on the manufacturing process for colloidal fuel.

He retired from the National Coal Board in 1963, due to ill health. In retirement he was a part-time member of the Wales Gas Board, a vice-president the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and chairman of its appointments board. He served on the Central Advisory Council for Education in Wales.

Honours Fellow of the Chemical Society Fellow of the Institute of Fuel Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts CBE (1954) Hon. DSc, University of Wales (1957)