Author: Jones, John Gale
Biography:
JONES, John Gale (1769-1838: ODNB)
A son of David Jones and his wife, Elizabeth, the poet was born in London on 16 Oct. 1769. He was baptised on 12 Nov. of the same year at St Martin Outwich. In 1783, he was enrolled at Merchant Taylor’s School. Then, on 9 July 1784, he commenced a seven-year apprenticeship to William North, surgeon, of Chelsea. A radical in politics, he was a member of the London Corresponding Society and a popular haranguer on stages throughout England. In Apr. and May 1797, he was imprisoned at Warwick whilst awaiting trial for sedition. When government abandoned the case on appeal, he escaped further incarceration, for the time being. From Jan. through Sept. 1805, he was confined to Newgate prison for debt. In the following year, he founded a radical debating society, the British Forum, at 22 Piccadilly (from Nov. 1808, at 33 Bedford Street, Covent Garden), where, curiously, speakers were permitted to wear masks. Not all the of the forum’s debates were about politics: “is woman inferior to man” (yes); “is an effeminate man more disgusting than a masculine woman” (yes). The debate that took place on 19 Feb. 1810, on the exclusion of strangers from the House of Commons, led to his imprisonment at Newgate, where he was confined from 21 Feb to 21 June. Released, he was imprisoned again, now for two years commencing 26 Nov. After that, he faded into the political background. On 3 Aug. 1837, a meeting took place at Jolly Gardens, Hammersmith, “to Devise and Adopt the best Means of Assisting that Veteran Reformer, John Gale Jones.” A mere £8 5s was raised by subscription, not a single prominent person having contributed. Nothing came of an attempt later in 1837 to establish a “a permanent fund for the aid of aged or indigent patriots, including John Gale Jones.” He died at his lodgings in Cromer Street, Grays Inn Lane, on 4 Mar. 1838, and on 11 Mar. was buried in the nonconformist burial grounds, Bunhill Fields. No records have been located regarding his wife or children; he was however married to a woman named Anne. (ODNB 11 Dec. 2023; Westminster Journal, 5 July 1806; Morning Chronicle, 4 Sept. 1806, 2 Apr. 1807; J. G. Jones, Address and Regulations of the British Forum [1810); Trade’s Free Press, 21 Aug. 1830; Poor Man’s Guardian, 1 Aug. 1835; Weekly True Sun, 10 Sept. 1837; Devises and Wiltshire Gazette, 28 Sept. 1837) JC