Diary of Captain Frederick Jones,

A volume, 1794-[1827] (watermark 1794), in the hand of Capt. Frederick Jones of Brecon, Breconshire, and Pencerrig, Radnorshire, younger brother of the artist Thomas Jones, Pencerrig, comprising a short narrative account, [1794], of his military career in India while serving as an officer in the army of the East India Company, 1777-1788 (ff. 37-40 verso), and brief diary entries for October 1788-February 1827, described as 'Memorandums extracted from Pocket book ledgers &c of my own' (ff. 41-168, rectos only). The diary entries record his life after his return to Britain from India and refer mainly to family matters, excursions, journeys, and visits to and from friends, with occasional comments on local, national, and European events.
The diary is bound together with copies of Jones's two published volumes, A Brief Account of the Tullaugaum Expedition from Bombay… (Brecknock: W. and G. North, 1794; Libri Walliae 4972, ESTC T113094), published anonymously and based on diaries which he subsequently destroyed (ff. 1-15); together with Copies of Letters, merely intended for, and by the Desire of Intimate Friends (Brecknock: W. and G. North, 1795; not in ESTC), also published anonymously, being three letters from him, two sent from Canton, China, in 1787 and 1788, and the third from Paris, September 1789 (ff. 16-32, the stub of f. 16 apparently being the remains of the title page). The diary includes references to the French landing at Fishguard in 1797 (f. 59), family monuments erected in Nantmel Church and Caebach Chapel, 1810 (ff. 84, 86), and the introduction of gas lighting in Brecon, 1822-1823 (ff. 143, 145). The stubs of ff. 34-36 contain fragments of text. For extracts of the diary see 'The diary of Captain Frederick Jones', ed. by R. C. B. Oliver, Transactions of the Radnorshire Society, 53 (1983), 28-56; 54 (1984), 41-57; 56 (1986), 52-71; 60 (1990), 41-65; and 61 (1991), 54-70.

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Mrs Christine Churchill, a direct descendant of Dr Charles M. D. Humphreys; Garthmyl; Donation; October 1999; A1999/129.

Title based on contents.

Preferred citation: NLW MS 23794C.

A facsimile copy of the diary and the printed material is available at the Library (NLW Facs 682).

April 2013.

Description revised by Rhys Morgan Jones;

Usual copyright laws apply.

The diary passed with other of Frederick Jones's effects to his great-nephew, Dr Charles M. D. Humphreys, only grandson of his elder sister, Sarah, wife of Humphrey Humphreys, attorney (see 'The Diary of Captain Frederick Jones (Part I: 1789 to 1799)', ed. by R. C. B. Oliver, Transactions of the Radnorshire Society, 53 (1983), 28-56, p. 28).

For personal papers of Capt. Jones see NLW, C. L. J. Humphreys Papers, Family Papers 13-25.

'The diary of Captain Frederick Jones', ed. by R. C. B. Oliver, Transactions of the Radnorshire Society, 53 (1983), 28-56; 54 (1984), 41-57; 56 (1986), 52-71; 60 (1990), 41-65; and 61 (1991), 54-70.

Published

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales