Memoirs of Thomas Jones, Pencerrig

Memoirs and journal, compiled 1798, of the artist Thomas Jones, Pencerrig, recounting in detail his life in London, France and especially Italy during the second half of the eighteenth century.
The volume briefly recounts Jones's ancestry and early years, becoming more detailed from the 1760s, with the last detailed entry being for December 1783 (f. 218 verso); the bulk of these later entries are extracts from Jones's own journals. The final entry was signed by the artist at Pencerrig, November 1798 (f. 220 verso). The main text, including some later deletions, is written on the versos only; notes and emendations, [1798x1803], have been added by Jones on the rectos and the volume has been signed and dated 1803 by him inside the front cover. Family memoranda, in a different hand, have been added after Jones's death (ff. 225 verso). Friends and acquaintances referred to include the artists William Pars (ff. 15 verso-177 passim), Richard Wilson (ff. 17 verso-20 verso, 35 verso, 56 verso, 85, 90 verso-91, 219 verso), John Hamilton Mortimer (21 verso, 27 verso-48 verso passim, 59 verso, 64 verso, 136 verso, 217 verso), Guiseppe Marchi (ff. 27 verso, 36 verso), Thomas Hardwick (ff. 66 verso-70 verso, 90 verso-100 verso, 115 verso, 130 verso) and Anton Raphael Mengs (ff. 101 verso, 130 verso, 148 verso, 161 verso), the composer Stephen Storace (ff. 117 verso-121, 146 verso), and the art collector Sir William Hamilton (ff. 127 verso-188 verso passim, 215 verso, 219 verso). A sketch of Mount Vesuvius is on f. 118; a plan of his lodgings in Naples is on f. 142. For a complete transcript (with index) see 'Memoirs of Thomas Jones, Penkerrig, Radnorshire', The Walpole Society, 32 (1951), 1-162; this transcript is also available on the Library's website.

Access to the original manuscript by authorised permission only. Readers are directed to use surrogate copies;

Mrs Jane Evan-Thomas, per Thomas Snell & Passmore, Solicitors; Tunbridge Wells; Bequest (with NLW MS 23811E); July 2000; A2000/47.

Title based on contents.

Preferred citation: NLW MS 23812D [RESTRICTED ACCESS].

Online version available on the Library's website https://www.llgc.org.uk/en/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/thomas-jones-pencerrig/ (viewed January 2018)

Many leaves partly excised; many leaves inserted; covers very rubbed.

March 2012.

Description revised by Rhys Morgan Jones;

Usual copyright laws apply.

Item: 1.1. Action: Condition reviewed. Action identifier: 004176290. Date: 200500303. Authorization: Selected for conservation. Authorizing institution: NLW. Action agent: J. Thomas. Status: Manuscript volume : Damaged corners, board edges Textblock : Some minor tears. Institution: WlAbNL.
Item: 1.2. Action: Conserved. Action identifier: 004176290. Date: 200500520. Authorizing institution: NLW. Action agent: J. Thomas. Status: Manuscript volume : Damaged corners and board edges repaired Textblock : Some minor tears repaired. Institution: WlAbNL.

The manuscript appears to have remained in the possession of the Thomas family of Pencerrig until the death of Miss Clara Thomas (d. 1914), the last descendant in the direct line; owned by Mr D. E. T. Lindsay, Aclare House, Drumconrath, County Meath, Ireland, in the late 1940s when the Walpole Society edition of the manuscript was in preparation; subsequently in the collection of Mrs Jane Evan-Thomas, widow of Commander Charles Lindsay Evan-Thomas, RN (1891-1950) of Pencerrig.

For typescript transcripts of the text see NLW MS 15169C and NLW Misc. Vols 288; for Thomas Jones's day book see NLW MS 23811E; for his notebooks see NLW, Pencerrig Deeds and Documents, 305-307.
See also the list of resources on the Library's website: http://www.llgc.org.uk/pencerrig/thjones_s0014.htm (viewed September 2016)

R. C. B. Oliver, The Family History of Thomas Jones the Artist, of Pencerrig, Radnorshire (2nd ed., Llandrindod Wells, 1987).

Published

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales