JONES
,
JOHN
(
Ivon
;
1820
-
1898
),
man of letters
;
b.
10 May 1820
to
David
and
Hannah
Jones
,
Spite
,
Bethel
,
Mynydd-bach, Cards.
He obtained a little formal education from a retired
exciseman
and one-time pupil at
Ystrad Meurig
,
Owen
Morris
, who kept school at
Bethel
. In
1835
, he was
apprenticed to the grocery trade
at
Canton House
,
Aberystwyth
. Upon his marriage in
Feb. 1848
he
established his own grocery business
in
Princess Street
, removing in
1860
to
Commerce House
,
Bridge Street
, where he lived practically to the very end of his life; he also
held the farm
of
Waun-grug
near
Rhydyfelin
. From
1882 to 1897
he was
relieving officer
for the
Aberystwyth Board of Guardians
. He threw himself wholeheartedly into the vigorous religious, literary, and musical life which flourished in the town when he became resident in it. He was a
member of the literary society
which met at ‘
The Shades
,’ an inn in the upper part of
Bridge Street
which had been converted into a ‘temperance house’; the society was devoted to the
study of Welsh grammar
, the
composition, reading, and criticism of poetry
. Though not a
musician
,
Ivon
supported the musical movement in the town under the leadership of
Edward
Edwards
(
Pencerdd Ceredigion
) (q.v.)
by
composing and translating hymns and songs
, and by
transcribing the musical scores
of the works performed by
Edwards
's choir. He was one of the founders of the ‘
Literary, Scientific, and Mechanics’ Institute
’ in the town,
21 June 1850
. He was the
secretary of the National Eisteddfod
held at
Aberystwyth
in
1865
, and was presented with a
gold medal
in appreciation of his outstanding contribution towards the success of the eisteddfod.
Commerce House
became a place of call at
Aberystwyth
for
poets
,
writers
, and
musicians
from all parts of
Wales
, and there is in the
National Library
a collection of their letters to
Ivon
. One of his closest friends for half a century was
Daniel Silvan
Evans
(q.v.)
, and while the latter held the
chair of Welsh
at the College, the two friends met every Monday evening. One of the fruits of these meetings was the joint publication of
Ysten Sioned
anonymously in
1882
; the authors divulged their identity in a second edition published in
1894
.
Ivon
was regarded as an
authority on the history of Aberystwyth and on the folklore of the district
. He published gleanings and articles in
Cymru (O.M.E.)
, particularly from
1894
till his death. He d.
6 Sept. 1898
, and was buried on the
9th
in
Aberystwyth
cemetery; his wife
Mary
(b.
3 Feb. 1823
) d.
21 Jan. 1895
.
Bibliography:
-
The Cambrian News
,
9 Sept. 1898
;
-
Cymru
,
1899
;
-
National Library of Wales Manuscript
3291.
Author:
Evan David Jones, F.S.A., (1903-87), Aberystwyth
