T. D. Jones, London (Solicitors) Records

The fonds comprises case papers, 1903-1973, dealing with interested parties within Wales and/or the London area who had some sort of Welsh connection. Included are papers dealing with land and property transfer, receivership and company liquidation, defamation and compensation, opposition to parliamentary bills, the settlement of personal estate, contempt of court and general legal matters. Not all of the issues addressed in the files actually resulted in court cases. The majority of the files consist of legal papers such as instructions and notes to counsel, briefs to counsel, opinions of counsel, affidavits, statements, declarations, summonses, claims and orders, often in draft form or as official copies, and solicitors' charges and bills. These are usually accompanied by correspondence made up of original letters and copy letters, both office copies and carbon copies, as well as handwritten notes and occasional telegrams, bills and receipts. Frequently, the files also contain associated documents such as copies of leases, agreements and deeds, plans and maps, accounts, reports and transcriptions of evidence, together with relevant printed material such as sale particulars, parliamentary bills and published reports.

The legal firm of T. D. Jones & Co., Solicitors, London, was established in 1894 by Thomas Davies Jones (1864-1953) with offices in Fleet Street. T. D. Jones was the only son of Thomas Jones of Cefngwyn, Llanuwchllyn, Merionethshire. After being admitted as a solicitor, he was for a time assistant solicitor to the North Eastern Railway Company, and later in his career held the position of Honorary Solicitor to the London Welsh Charitable Aid Society. He was also a member of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion and the Cambrian Archaeological Association. In 1921, his nephew Thomas Ivor Jones (1896-1969) joined the practice as a partner, finally taking over the running of the firm after the death of T. D. Jones in the 1950s.
T. Ivor Jones was born at Caergai, Llanuwchllyn, Merionethshire on 13 July 1896. He was particularly active within the expatriate Welsh community in London, being regarded as a prominent figure of 'the young set', and was one of the founder members of the Young Wales Association, which later became the London Welsh Association. He held several positions within the Association and remained one of its Honorary Legal Advisors for many years. In addition to this, he was legal advisor to Urdd Gobaith Cymru and an elder of the Charing Cross Road Welsh Presbyterian Church, as well as being involved with the Merionethshire Society, Undeb y Cymdeithasau and the London Welsh School. The firm of T. D. Jones & Co. accordingly dealt with many Welsh clients living in London and also acted as the London agent for several solicitors based in Wales. T. Ivor Jones died on 29 March 1969, and in July of the following year the practice was sold to its new owner who subsequently went into a partnership with another firm of solicitors.

The fonds has been arranged at NLW into twenty-three files, in chronological order based on the dates of accumulation of individual files, with as near as possible the original order being retained within each file.

No restrictions with the exception of file /5: see the appropriate file level description for further details. Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to sign the 'Modern papers - data protection' form.

Donated by Mrs Carys I. Arwyn Evans, daughter of T. Ivor Jones, and Mr T. Arwyn Evans, Bangor, October 2001.; A2001/71

The legal firm of T. D. Jones & Co., Solicitors, London, was established in 1894 by Thomas Davies Jones (1864-1953) with offices in Fleet Street. T. D. Jones was the only son of Thomas Jones of Cefngwyn, Llanuwchllyn, Merionethshire. After being admitted as a solicitor, he was for a time assistant solicitor to the North Eastern Railway Company, and later in his career held the position of Honorary Solicitor to the London Welsh Charitable Aid Society. He was also a member of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion and the Cambrian Archaeological Association. In 1921, his nephew Thomas Ivor Jones (1896-1969) joined the practice as a partner, finally taking over the running of the firm after the death of T. D. Jones in the 1950s.
T. Ivor Jones was born at Caergai, Llanuwchllyn, Merionethshire on 13 July 1896. He was particularly active within the expatriate Welsh community in London, being regarded as a prominent figure of 'the young set', and was one of the founder members of the Young Wales Association, which later became the London Welsh Association. He held several positions within the Association and remained one of its Honorary Legal Advisors for many years. In addition to this, he was legal advisor to Urdd Gobaith Cymru and an elder of the Charing Cross Road Welsh Presbyterian Church, as well as being involved with the Merionethshire Society, Undeb y Cymdeithasau and the London Welsh School. The firm of T. D. Jones & Co. accordingly dealt with many Welsh clients living in London and also acted as the London agent for several solicitors based in Wales. T. Ivor Jones died on 29 March 1969, and in July of the following year the practice was sold to its new owner who subsequently went into a partnership with another firm of solicitors.

Fonds title supplied from provenance, file titles supplied from contents.

A hard copy of this list is available at NLW and at the Guildhall Library, London.

April 2002.

Compiled by Martin Robson Riley.

The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: The Biographical Index of W. W. Price, Aberdâr (NLW, 1981); Who's Who in Wales (Cardiff, 1921); The Dictionary of Welsh Biography: 1941-1970 (London, 2001); correspondence between Mrs Carys I. Arwyn Evans and NLW.

Usual copyright laws apply

Under the conditions of the merger in 1970 of the legal firm of T. D. Jones & Co. with another practice, all case files from the former were appraised by a solicitor especially employed to list the records and to destroy those not considered worthy of permanent preservation. Responsibility for the remainder was vested in T. Ivor Jones's widow and these papers were subsequently transferred to Bangor, initially under her care and then, after 1998, under the care of her daughter Mrs Carys I. Arwyn Evans. The archive was transferred to the Guildhall Library, London, during the first half of 2001, apart from a small group of files considered to be of particular historical interest and worthy of retention at NLW.

Accruals are not expected.

The greater part of the archive is held at the Guildhall Library, London.

Published