Welsh Journals

REVIEWS Francis Jones, Historic Houses of Pembrokeshire and their Families. Edited by Robert Innes-Smith. Brawdy Books, 1996. Pp. xxii, 266. £ 27.50 By Roger Turvey The name Francis Jones will forever be synonymous with genealogy and family history. In a career spanning more than half a century (he was first published in the 1930s), he has earned for himself a deserved reputation for quality and excellence in both his research and publications. Indeed, in some respects, it might be said that he had cornered the market in south- west Wales since few of the old 'gentry' families of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire had escaped his attention. For those of us who dared follow in his tracks, his articles were usually among the first ports of call for checking primary references before embarking on the rigours of researching the archives of the Public Record Office and British Library. For one who knew him only through his published works, his meticulous research and attention to detail was a model of good technique and a heavy influence on a young historian eager to earn his spurs. I was fortunate, the Perrots had indeed escaped his grasp which left the field open culminating, after four years of research, in a doctoral thesis on one of the premier gentle families of Pembrokeshire. His work was not without its faults, possibly paying too much heed to family stories and legends chief among them, but his endeavours were never less than honest and he attempted always to be as entertaining as he was informative. He appeared also unafraid to take risks and he often pushed the evidence as far as it would go, and then some! Apart from his magisterial paper 'An Approach to Welsh Genealogy' printed in the Transactions of the Cymmrodorion Society (1948), perhaps his most ambitious undertaking was the publication of the volume entitled Historic Carmarthenshire Homes and their Families, which broke new ground being encyclopedic in concept and design yet accessible and readable in its utility. The book was well received and deservedly so. Published in 1987 (recently republished in 1997 at the inflation-busting price of £ 27.50 nearly twice the cost of the original), it embodied the fruits of his researches over many years and within a short time, established itself as a standard work of