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John Jones
Able Seaman, HMHS Llandovery Castle, Mercantile Marine
Supposed drowned after enemy action, 27 June 1918, aged 60
Body not recovered (Tower Hill Memorial)
CWGC registered (Son of the late Owen and Jane Jones [Nee Hughes]. Born at Llandudno)
John Jones of the Mercantile Marine is not listed on the Llandudno Roll of Honour. Whilst the names John or Jack Jones appear on the War Memorial and in the Memorial Chapel of Holy Trinity Church, research shows that these instances apply to others. When the names for the Llandudno Roll of Honour were taken in 1920, John Jones had been sea or had resided in Liverpool for 45 years. Notwithstanding, he was certainly a Llandudno Lad and worthy of inclusion on the Llandudno memorials. Sorting out the John Joneses.
John Jones was born on 3 September 1857 in Llandudno. He was the son of Owen Jones, a stone mason, and Jane Jones (née Hughes). The Census of Wales for 1861 records the family living at 19 Pen-y-buarth, Llandudno. Owen Jones (34) was an agricultural labourer. Also recorded were his wife Jane (24); his son John (3); his daughter Jane (1); and his son Hugh (1 month). In 1871, the family lived at Maes-y-facrell, Llandudno. Owen Jones died in 1877 and Jane Jones married William Morris, a labourer, in 1881. The Census for that year shows the combined family living at Maes-y-facrell Cottages though John Jones, who would have now been 23 years of age, was not recorded.
Though not definitely proven to be the John Jones of this research, in November 1875, John Jones born in Llandudno with a given age of 16 became bound to the Charles Myers Steamship Company of Liverpool for five years. Liverpool crew lists include John Jones, an able seaman born in Llandudno between 1855 and 1857 who resided initially in East Street and later Jenkinson Street, Liverpool. He served on several ships of the White Star Line: Cymric, Ionic and Majestic.
What is known for certain is that the John Jones of this biography was an able seaman aboard the hospital ship HMHS Llandovery Castle when it was torpedoed by the German U-boat U-86 on 27 June 1918 off the coast of Ireland en route to England from Nova Scotia. The Llandovery Castle was a liner built in 1914 and operated by the Union Castle Line. She was commissioned as a hospital ship in July 1916 and assigned to the Canadian Forces. Firing on a hospital ship was against international law and the skipper of the U-boat sought to destroy evidence by ramming lifeboats and machine gunning survivors. Twenty-four people were rescued. According to the Board of Trade register, Deaths at Sea, John Jones’ home address was 22 Earle Road, Edge Hill, Liverpool.
Although CWGC records John Jones’ parents as being “the late Owen Jones and Jane Jones (née Hughes)”, Jane Jones was Jane Morris when the records were compiled in the 1920s. She died in 1931 aged 93. There is no indication that John Jones was ever married or had any children.
Known memorial:
- Tower Hill Memorial
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