Author: Jones, Thomas
Biography:
JONES, THOMAS (fl 1803-20)
Thomas Jones was a miscellaneous author, both in the sense that he produced miscellanies that combined verse, prose, and dramatic writing and in the sense of someone who undertook various forms of literature and did not confine himself to one. In his preface to the Miscellanies of 1820 he acknowledges his lack of formal education but describes himself as having had an “innate love of reading” which he used to entertain and instruct first himself and then others. One of the justifications for producing the work, he says, was that he was already seeing some of the essays and verses that he had contributed to “reputable Public Journals” being adopted for use in schools. His favoured genre was drama, specifically the farces Phantoms: or the Irishman in England (1803) and Confined in Vain (1805). Although both Baker (1812) and Watkins (1816) questioned his authorship of the tragedy The Sons, or Family Feuds (1809), apparently because they thought it was not lightweight enough to be his, Jones claims it on his 1820 title-page. There are no later separate publications. Jones’s preface mentions in passing his “large family” but he gives no other personal information and his name is such a common one that it has not as yet proved possible to pin him down. WBIS on the authority of the microform British Biographical Archive gives him a birthdate of 1777. (ancestry.com 27 Dec. 2024; findmypast.com 27 Dec. 2024; WBIS; Baker [1812] pt 2, 412; Watkins, 183)
Other Names:
- T. Jones