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 1833 - 1884 (51 years)
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| Name |
Robert William Jones |
| Born |
23 Jan 1833 |
Liverpool  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Census |
1851 |
Gothic Terrace, 1 Upper Dalton Street, Liverpool |
| Occupation |
11 Dec 1855 |
Royal Navy |
| Engineer, RN |
| Occupation |
Jan 1860 |
the Royal Navy |
| Assistant Engineer 2nd Class |
| Posted |
1861 |
HMS Warrior |
| Occupation |
9 Apr 1863 |
the Royal Navy |
| Engineer Officer |
| Census |
1871 |
on board the ship HMS Duke of Wellington, Portsea |
| Occupation |
1 Sep 1875 |
the Royal Navy |
| Chief Engineer |
| Residence |
18 Nov 1878 |
Battersea [1] |
Address:
4 Park Grove |
| Residence |
15 Jun 1880 |
Clapham, Wandsworth, London, England [1] |
Address:
550 Wandsworth Road |
| Died |
16 Sep 1884 |
Devonport |
Address:
4 Fitzroy Terrace, Stoke Damerel |
| Buried |
Abt 21 Sep 1884 |
Plymouth |
Address:
Royal Naval Hospital, Stonehouse |
- Reported in the Western Morning News of 23 September 1884 as the funeral of Mr H Jones, RN, chief engineer of the Raleigh, died at his home in Stoke. There is overwhelming evidence that this was a typo and that the report relates to R W Jones,who had been chief engineer of the Raleigh. There were no other Jones deaths in Stoke Damerel that quarter.
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| Notes |
- Robert William Jones 1833-1884
1833 Born 23 January 1833 in Liverpool. Father Samuel Jones, a whitesmith.
1851 census: Robert Jones, apprentice engineer aged 18, recorded as a visitor to William Dyson engineer, Gothic Terrace, 1 Upper Dalton Street, Liverpool.
1853: Robert marries Lucy Parkes on 26 December at St Mary's Edge Hill (Lucy was then aged just 16 - baptised 20 Feb 1837 parish of St Peter ; parents Job and Charlotte Parkes. However her age is stated as 18 on the marriage certificate). Robert's address is given as Dalton Street. (The Parkes and Jones families would maintain a connection for many years - Robert and Lucy's son Samuel Job Jones worked for John Parkes and Sons, manufacturers of ship's chronometers and sextants.)
1855: joins Royal Navy 11 December 1855 and appointed to HMS Polyphemus as acting assistant engineer 3rd class.
1856: Polyphemus is wrecked off Jutland on 29 January 1856 with some loss of life. Robert is listed as a survivor in the subsequent court martial record. Son Samuel Job ("Sam Job" ) born April 5th. Robert joins HMS Ringdove, then transfers to HMS Blenheim.
1857: Robert is assigned to Her Majesty's Steam Troopship Transit on 10 March. Transit sails for Hong Kong with 1000 troops on board but is wrecked in the Straits of Banca (Sumatra) in July. All aboard are saved and taken to Singapore. The troops are promptly diverted from there to India because of the Mutiny, and will not reach China until December. The Transit's master and commander are court martialed aboard HMS Sibylle on the Canton River in November 1857. Robert is assigned to HMS Esk and serves with Esk on the China station for the next 4 years. His commanding officer is polar explorer Sir Robert M'Clure (who had been recently knighted and awarded £5000 for his navigation of the North West passage). This is the time of the Second China (Opium) War and Esk takes part in a number of engagements. M'Clure commands a division of the Naval Brigade in the battle for Canton.
1859: Robert is posted to HMS Chesapeake but appears never to have joined this vessel.
1860: promoted to Asst Engineer 2nd class (M'Clure wrote to the Admiralty: "a very deserving officer of whom I have invariably reported most favourably")
1861: Census data: Lucy and young Sam Job ae living at 124 Duke Street Everton . Also recorded with them is Robert's youngest brother Peter Jones aged 16, a watch jeweller. Lucy's mother Charlotte Leadbeater (formerly Parkes) is also head of a household at that address: with her are Lucy's brothers John and William Parkes, and sister Charlotte Parkes. Robert returns to England as Asst Engineer 1st class in June when Esk is paid off at Portsmouth. He attends the Royal Naval College and passes the engineer's examination "highly creditably". He is lent to the new ironclad HMS Warrior which is commissioning at Portsmouth.
1862: While serving on Warrior, Robert is awarded the China medal for his service on Esk
1863: promoted Engineer, and formally posted to Warrior, Channel Squadron.
1865: joins HMS Minstrel for commissioning. Passes 2nd class certificate from Director of Education.
1866: Robert passes creditably for Chief Engineer. Minstrel commissioned and sails to serve on the North America and West Indies station until 1870.
1869: Robert receives a severe reprimand from Admiral Sir George Munday for the state of Minstrel's boilers. Saved from further disciplinary action by the intercession of Lt. Commander Medlycott (later Admiral Sir Mervyn B Medlycott) - "an act of grace" granted on the occasion of Medlycott's promotion.
1870: back in Portsmouth. Serves on various vessels Ariadne, Black Eagle, and Duke of Wellington until 1872
1871 Census: Robert W Jones ships engineer born in Liverpool is recorded aboard "HMS Duke of Wellington and/or support vessels" at Portsea (Portsmouth). Lucy Jones is recorded in Portsea "Husband RN engineer aboard".
1873 Robert departs for China Station again to serve on Kestrel. Excellent staff reports from Cdr. Theobald.
1875: promoted Chief Engineer. Service record states "to remain as Chief but to be relieved at first opportunity".
1876: Robert returns to England on HMS Thalia. Posted to HMS Fox. (We have a family heirloom from this time - a pair of slippers inscribed "Miss Williams 1876" and "RW Jones" - presumably a present to Martha Ann Williams who was to marry Sam Job in November 1877).
1878: Robert ill with pneumonia in May and is treated at the Naval hospital at Stonehouse, Plymouth.
1879: Lucy dies of cancer 14 January 1879 at 115 Gladstone Road, West Derby. A few months later, on 24 May Robert marries Elizabeth Lever then aged 23 in a Fylde registry office. Fox is paid off. Robert on half pay.
1880: Posted to HMS London on the East Indies station. London is anchored off Zanzibar as a depot ship for the steam pinnaces engaged in apprehending slavers in the Pemba channel.
1881: The census records Robert at sea on board HMS London. Elizabeth Jones, 25 years old, Chief Engineer's wife, is recorded as a lodger at 20 Brougham Road Portsmouth, and on census night she is being visited by her older sister Emma Lever. (London's commanding officer Capt Brownrigg is murdered by slavers in 1881.)
1882: Robert returns to Portsmouth by mail steamer in October.
1883: Based on HMS Raleigh at Devonport
1884: Based on HMS Resistance at Devonport.
Robert dies of heart disease 16 September 1884, aged 51, at his home 4 Fitzroy Terrace, Stoke Damerel, Devonport.
Robert's 28 year old widow Elizabeth is granted a navy pension of £70 per annum, and she returns to the north west, taking up residence at 81 Esmond Street, Liverpool. Three years later in November 1887 she bears a child, Newton Jones, and when registering the birth in January 1888 she cites the father as Robert Jones, engineer.
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| Person ID |
I62 |
Genealogy |
| Last Modified |
14 Aug 2017 |
| Family 1 |
Lucy Parkes, b. 1837, Liverpool , d. 14 Jan 1879, Liverpool (Age 42 years) |
| Married |
26 Dec 1853 |
St Mary, Edge Hill, Liverpool |
| Children |
| + | 1. Samuel Job Jones, b. 5 Apr 1856, West Derby, Liverpool , d. Est 22 Feb 1936, Great Crosby (Age 79 years) |
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| Last Modified |
8 Jul 2006 |
| Family ID |
F12 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Photos |
 | Inscribed slipper
"Miss Williams 1876"
from "RW Jones"
One of a pair, assumed to be a gift from Robert William Jones to Martha Ann Williams, future wife of Robert's son Samuel Job Jones |
 | Funeral of George Newman (George John Cooper)
Funeral report 12 November 1871. We can guess that one of the brothers in law who were naval officers would have been Robert William Jones. Who was the other? |
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