Thomas Jones (CH) Papers,

The papers of Dr Thomas Jones, CH (1870-1955; D.W.B.; D.N.B.), confidant of prime ministers, especially Lloyd George and Baldwin, a notably full archive. Includes important papers relating to Coleg Harlech, The Observer newspaper, the Gregynog Press and Sir Henry Jones. Annual Report 1983-84, p. 46. See Thomas Jones, Whitehall Diary, 3 vols. (London, 1969-71), and A Diary with Letters, 1931-1950 (London, 1954); E. L. Ellis, T.J.: a Life of Thomas Jones CH (Cardiff, 1992). This volume provides a complete guide and index to the bound series of 221 volumes. The core of the guide is a complete set of the contents lists and indexes to correspondents of every volume in the collection, together with the class contents sheets which appear in the first volume of every class. They are arranged in order of classes and are preceded by a summary class list and some notes on the arrangement of the papers. Notes on the Arrangement of the Papers. (1) Classification. (A) The collection comprises 221 volumes of letters, memoranda, papers, pamphlets, cuttings and other documentary material. The total of enumerated documents is over 30,000. Many of the documents run to scores of pages. These volumes are grouped in 25 classes. The diaries which Dr Jones had printed in Switzerland are counted as the final class, class Z. The remainder, classes A-y, are Dr Jones's papers organised in as coherent a form as possible. (B) The scheme of organisation is based on the skeleton classification previously sketched by Dr Jones and secretaries. It has proved necessary to create additional classes and an effort has been made to retain the integrity and inner coherence of each class, but wherever possible, the original scheme has been followed. Some overlap is unavoidable. Letters from a particular individual may be found, not only under his name in the General Correspondence, but in or perhaps several of the institutional classes. Broadly speaking, classes A-p represent institutional or governmental material, classes Q-z individual correspondence and personalia. Cross-reference guides are provided in the contents lists of most classes. (C) The volumes fall into five broad categories:. (I) Material which is, in a broad sense, concerned with government. Class A (Prime Ministers) groups the rather scattered material deriving from Thomas Jones' personal relationship with four Premiers. Class B (Government) has material relating to the actual processes of government, the Cabinet, advisory bodies, the civil service, etc. Class C (Government and Society) is the major collection of material relating to policy, covering Cabinet operations, economic policy in general, industrial relations and unemployment in particular. There are also collections relating to private groups and organisations, sometimes semi-official in status, which contain a good deal of survey material. The remainder of the material in this section falls into subject categories - Education (class D), Foreign Affairs (class E), Imperial Affairs (class F) and an important collection on Ireland (class G). (Ii) Material relating to Wales. Class H (Wales) is a general class containing much material on social service and rural amenities. Class J (University, Library and Museum of Wales) covers Wales's major educational institutions; class K is an important collection relating to Coleg Harlech and class L covers the Gregynog Press. Cross-reference is provided to the major sources of Welsh material found elsewhere in the collection. (Iii) A miscellaneous group of volumes of diffuse character. Class M (Social and Cultural) covers material on the cultural organisations, such as the Arts Council, with which Thomas Jones was concerned, together with a little documentation on social service in general and refugees in particular. Class N (Patronage) represents a residue of material on pensions and honours; class O (Speeches) contains a newspaper record of the Elections of 1922-23 and material collected by Thomas Jones towards speeches he wrote for others. Class P (Diary Material) represents material collected by Thomas Jones towards his printed Diaries. (Iv) Classes Q - W are volumes of correspondence with individuals. Correspondence with certain people is so bulky and important that it has been classed separately - the Astor family (class Q), the Davies family of Llandinam and Gregynog (class R), Abraham Flexner and family (class S), Miss Violet Markham (class T), Sir Henry Jones, including some mid and late nineteenth-century material (class U) and Sir Percy Watkins (class V). The rest of this material comprising letters from 151 correspondents is found in the 20 volumes of class W (General Correspondence). (V) Finally, there is the immediately personal material. Early family letters, material illustrating Thomas Jones' early career, important appointments and applications, correspondence with his wife and daughter, souvenirs, etc., form class X (Family and Personal). What is available of his published work, with some correspondence thereon, form class Y (Publications). The printed Diaries (class Z) complete the collection. (2) Organisation. (I) This schedule lists all the classes in the collection and reproduces the contents and index sheets of every volume. (Ii) A general description of the contents of each class is included in the first volume of that class. Thus, a general description of the contents of class C (Government and Society) may be found in Volume C1. (Cabinet: Secretary's Notes). These general descriptions are reproduced in the body of this Guide in the appropriate place. (Iii) Every document in a volume is numbered. In the case of multi-paged documents, every page has a sub-number (in the form 21/3). Thus, reference to letter no. 13, second page, in volume four of class H could take the form H4/13/2. (Iv) Every volume carries a contents list. The detail of this list varies with subject. In the case of volumes containing correspondence with a single individual, the list is brief, but in institutional volumes, and wherever it seems necessary, the contents are full and detailed. The contents sheets of all volumes are reproduced in this Guide in the appropriate place. (V) Every volume carries an index to correspondents, as a general rule. In institutional classes, and wherever it seems useful, third persons extensively commented upon have been indexed, in addition to the correspondents themselves. In class W (General Correspondence) correspondents only have been indexed, and in a few volumes, certain marginal 'correspondents' (such as the writers of testimonials) have not been indexed. Notes of Cabinet meetings and analogous documents have not been indexed individuals. Such departures from the general rule fully notes in the volumes concerned. The index sheets of all volumes are reproduced in this Guide in appropriate place. Summary. (I) The first volume of each class carries a general description of that class. (Ii) Every volume carries a contents list and an index to correspondents. Exceptions are noted in the relevant volume. (Iii) This Guide: (a) gives a general list of classes in order; and (b) reproduces the class contents, volume contents, and volume index of every volume, in order, by class. Note I: Undated Material. A good deal of the material in the collection carries no date. In a few cases, it has been possible rapidly to place such documents, but, in most cases, to date them definitively would require much labour. In such cases, and as a general rule, undated documents have been retained in their original file position. There can be no guarantee that this position is chronologically correct. Note II: Cabinet notes and similar material. In the case of notes and minutes of Cabinet meetings, conferences of ministers, and similar material, no index of individual has been compiled. Where there are memoranda on specific topics and by named authors among such papers, those authors have been indexed. But a complete and detailed list of all such documents, whatever their nature, is provided in the relevant volume, as part of the contents summary. (3) Unbound Material. Some material from the Dr Thomas Jones collection remains unbound. These remain in storage. (I) Bundles of press-cuttings. Some of these are classified, some semi-classified and many unclassified. (Ii) Notebooks of Dr Jones. (Iii) A few of Dr Jones's books. Arrangement and extent (Class, description, no. of volumes, no.
of documents): A, Prime Ministers, 13, 1,760; B, Government, 7, 529; C, Government and Society, 22, 1,428; D, Education, 11, 1,286; E, Foreign Affairs, 9, 772; F, Imperial Affairs, 2, 145; G, Ireland, 5, 252; H, Wales, 21, 2,949; J, University, Library and Museum of Wales, 20, 2,474; K, Coleg Harlech, 15, 2,666; L, Gregynog Press, 12, 2,129; M, Social and Cultural, 4, 666; N, Patronage, 2, 230; O, Speeches, 3, 320; P, Diary Material, 4, 525; Q, Astor collection, 7, 1,212; R, Gregynog collection, 8, 1,394; S, Flexner collection, 3, 542; T, Violet Markham collection, 9, 1,334; U, Sir Henry Jones collection, 5, 903; V, Sir Percy Watkins collection, 2, 335; W, General correspondence, 20, 4,673; X, Family and personal, 12, 1,597; Y, Publications, 5, 209; Z, Printed diaries.

Preferred citation: Group 1.

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