Thomas Jones

Thomas Jones (died 1682) was a Welsh Anglican clergyman. He was a firm defender of the position of the Church of England, and encountered considerable difficulties and hardship when he accused the Bishop of Winchester, George Morley, of disloyalty to the church. Jones wrote a number of tracts setting forward his defence of the church.

Life Jones was born in Oswestry, Shropshire; his father, John Williams, was originally from Pwllheli, Caernarfonshire, North Wales. He studied in Oswestry before moving to Jesus College, Oxford in 1641. His studies were interrupted in 1642 by the English Civil War. He returned in 1646, and the parliamentary authorities in control of the university appointed him to a fellowship at University College, Oxford in 1649. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1650 and his Master of Arts degree in 1651. He was appointed rector of Castle Caereinion in Montgomeryshire in 1654, but lost this post at the Restoration in 1661. He later became chaplain to Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery and, in 1663, domestic and naval chaplain to James, Duke of York (later King James II).