JONES, DAVID ('Welsh Freeholder '; 1765 - 1816), barrister and author

Name: David Jones
Pseudonym: Welsh Freeholder
Date of birth: 1765
Date of death: 1816
Gender: Male
Occupation: barrister and author
Area of activity: Law; Literature and Writing
Author: John James Evans

Born near Llandovery, son of a freeholder. He was educated at Pencader, Abergavenny, and Homerton Academy (1783). Adopting Unitarian views, he removed to Hackney College, where he later became lecturer in Experimental Philosophy. In October 1792 he succeeded Priestley as pastor of the New Meeting House, Birmingham. In May 1795 he was admitted a student of Lincoln's Inn; he was called to the Bar, and practised in London and on the Oxford and South Wales circuits. In 1800 he graduated from Caius College, Cambridge (M.A. in 1803). Under the pseudonym of ' Welsh Freeholder ' he championed the cause of freedom against the attacks of Samuel Horsley, bishop of S. Davids, in a series of pamphlets: (1) A Letter to the Right Rev. Samuel, Lord Bishop of St. David's, 1791, (2) Thoughts on the Riots at Birmingham, 1791, (3) The Welsh Freeholder's Vindication, 1791, (4) Reasons for Unitarianism, 1792, (5) The Welsh Freeholder's Farewell Epistles, 1794. He died in 1816. A Whig in principle, he believed ' in obeying government in civil matters, and asserting the supremacy and independence of the mind.'

Author

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/

The Dictionary of Welsh Biography is provided by The National Library of Wales and the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. It is free to use and does not receive grant support. A donation would help us maintain and improve the site so that we can continue to acknowledge Welsh men and women who have made notable contributions to life in Wales and beyond.

Find out more on our sponsorship page.