John Eric Gethyn-Jones

St Mary of the Virgin's Church, Berkeley (The Tower) of which Gethyn-Jones was vicar. Canon John Eric Gethyn-Jones MBE FSA (9 October 1909 – 9 November 1995) was a clergyman and historian of Gloucestershire. He served in the Royal Army Chaplains' Department during the Second World War for which he was awarded the MBE in 1945. Later he was vicar of St Mary of the Virgin's Church, Berkeley, and rose to the position of Canon. He wrote a number of works including books on the history of Dymock and Berkeley, Gloucestershire.

Early life John Eric Gethyn-Jones was born on 9 October 1909 in Wales. His father, Daniel Gethyn-Jones was a man of the cloth and his mother, Edith Gethyn-Jones (née James), the daughter of a vicar. He attended The Crypt School, Gloucester, and went on to study at the University of Oxford (Pembroke College, Oxford) and Queen's College, Birmingham. He joined the Territorial Army, now called Army Reserve (United Kingdom), in 1937 He remained its incumbent until 1967.

During the Second World War he served in the Royal Army Chaplains' Department and was awarded the MBE in 1945 for bravery in Normandy having been involved with the rescue of wounded soldiers on the ill-fated ship MV Derrycunihy (1943) in 1944.

Amongst other publications he wrote a number of works on the history of Berkeley and Dymock, both in Gloucestershire. A long-standing member of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1961.

As vicar of Berkeley he resided in The Chantry, the former home of Edward Jenner, pioneer of the smallpox vaccination. It was always the wish of Reverend Gethyn-Jones that a smaller vicarage could be built so the house could be turned into a museum to honour Jenner

Death Gethyn-Jones died in Leicester on 9 November 1995. His correspondence, notes, slides and books were donated to the County Record Office, the Gloucester Collection, the B.G.A.S. Library, the Gloucester Regimental Museum and the Jenner Museum.

Selected publications Dymock a Royal Manor. History of the Church and Parish. H. Osborne, Gloucester. Dymock Down the Ages Revised edition Dymock, The Registers of the Church of St. Mary, Dymock, 1538–1790. Baptisms and burials 1538–1788; marriages 1538–1790. Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Bristol, 1960. (Editor with Irvine Gray) St. Mary's Church, Kempley, and its paintings. John Bellows, Gloucester, 1961. Dymock, Gloucestershire. J. E. Gethyn-Jones Dymock. (later editions) Berkeley, Gloucestershire. Berkeley The Chantry, 1971. Trevisa of Berkeley: A Celtic Firebrand. Alan Sutton, Dursley, 1978. The Dymock School of Sculpture. Phillimore, London, 1979. George Thorpe and the Berkeley Company: A Gloucestershire Enterprise in Virginia. Sutton, Gloucester, 1982. A Territorial Army Chaplain in Peace and War: A Country Cleric in Khaki, 1938–1961. Gooday, Chichester, 1988.