Welsh Journals

Bookseller Mr. Browne in Ludgate street, Stationer and by Edm. Powell, Printer, in Blackfryars near Ludgate.' The Proposals had been circulated as far back as 1705 and they had attracted the attention of the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge.8 Apparently Whitledge had withdrawn them once on hearing that the Welsh Bishops had the matter of a Welsh Prayer Book under consideration, but the S.P.C.K. were favourably im- pressed and promised support. The loss of such a market infuriated Thomas Jones. He would have been even more incensed if he had learned that the Bishop of Hereford considered his editions of the Prayer Book, dated 1687 and 1700, to be 'neither of them correct'. What part John Jones played in this drama will probably remain obscure, but if he were a Presbyterian, he is hardly likely to be influencing Bishops in the choice of a Prayer Book. Most probably he merely undertook to act as an agent for Edmund Powell, with whom he had had business dealings, as we know from the broad- sheet on Thomas Jones's Almanac Patent. Further evidence lending support to the identification of John Jones with the 'Gentleman' can be gleaned from the episode of the sale of Randle Holme's types. In his Almanac for 1704, Thomas Jones relates how John Jones (or 'Sionyn' as he calls him) had deprived him of his shop in Chester, concerning which he had come to an agreement John Jones had stolen his shop from his secretly, by giving twice as much for it and thus luring its owner to break the agreement. Might not this be a rephrasing of the Randle Holme story recounted in the Almanac for 1703 ? No mention is made elsewhere of Thomas Jones's shop in Chester (and he was not slow to advertise his amenities), so the 'shop' may have been the printing equipment of Randle Holme, plus the remainder of the stock of the famous Academy of Armory. The latter is in fact advertised by Thomas Jones in his Almanac for 1702.: 'Fiftie of (the book Called) The Academy of Armory (Composed and Printed by Mr. Randle Holme of Chester, lately deseased) And yet to be sold in the hand of (his Son) Mr. Randle Holme, at his house in the Bridge Street, at Chester And he will sell them reasonably'. It is doubtful whether two people, John Jones and a 'Gentleman' would try to defraud Thomas Jones in the same deal. If John Jones were the 'Gentleman', he need not necessarily be as villainous a character as Thomas Jones suggests. His challenge to Thomas Jones's Almanac Patent was understandable because monopolies in printing have always been resented by those who do not possess them. While not condoning his conspiracy with T. Shankland, 'Diwygwyr Cymru'. Seren Gomer (1904) p. 13-16.