Birth places of children and the date of the Jones resident in Well House.
A reference in George Alfred Jones’s letter of 1892 from the Bedford Regiment, Raglan Barracks, Devonport (letter No.4 of that year) stated that he was born in the Plymouth area in 1866 and not in Well House. Recent checks online of births (BMD website) show that his birth was registered in Stoke Damerel, Plymouth, Devon, for the period March to June 1866.
In the light of the above, the birth area of each of George’s siblings was checked and it was found that Louisa Hannah Jones’s birth was registered in Greenwich in 1868. It was also determined that Augustus John Jones who had been born in Limerick died in Greenwich in 1868, age 4 yrs..
All subsequent children were born when John Jones had left the Armed Services and he and Eliza Ann were living in Well House, the children’s births being registered in Newport Pagnell. The daughter Eliza Ann was born on the 6th February 1870.and was the first of the children to be born in Well House. Records show that the two daughters, Eliza Ann and Alice, died on the same day, 28th April 1875, aged 5 and 3 respectively.
It follows from the above that the Jones family moved into Well House sometime after March 1868 but before February 1870., which is a few years later than the previously stated date of 1865 in the Well House document.
A further important source for the later Jones family information was the handwritten entries by the Jones family members on otherwise blank fly-sheets of a book kept by the Jones family. The book titled “An Incorruptible Key Composed of the hundred and tenth Psalme“, written by Samuel Gorton was printed in London in 1647. George Augustus Ruston had received the book from a friend, James Sweetman, in 1861 when he was resident in the Union Workhouse in Portsea following a ‘paralysis attack’. It was later passed-on to John William Jones his son-in-law. Both of these changes in ownership are recorded in the book. The subsequent entries recording the births and deaths of the Jones family members including those of John William Jones, his wife Eliza Ann, the birth dates of their all children and the dates of death for the three children who died in infancy.
The book was donated to The John Rylands Library, Manchester, (in May, 2022) in accordance with the wishes of Gillian N B Thompson following her death in Sept. 2019. The book is catalogued online in the Special Collection Category, Ref. R23426, where transcriptions of the references to the Jones family can be read online.
Much of the early Jones family information contained in the above pages was recorded in a pocketbook belonging to George Augustus Ruston (b.1808; d.1968), Eliza Ann Jones’ father, who lived in Portsmouth. This pocketbook has been donated to the Portsmouth Museum and Art Galley (17th May 2023, Entry No. 3877). The pocketbook also contains references to local and national events of the time.
Other items associated with the family were also donated included:
a) The glass slide portrait of Eliza Ann Ruston (George Augustus’ younger daughter) taken in 1855 on her 18th birthday, 9th June. (A scanned copy is contained on page 5 of the above document)
b) A bone handled wax-seal stamp with initials RR that had belonged to Roger Ruston (b.1775; d.1849), George Augustus’ father.
c) A collection (about 100) of greetings cards assembled between 1885 and 1900 by Louisa Hannah Jones, Eliza Ann’s eldest daughter, while working in domestic service in Portsmouth.
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ADDENDUM (dated Jan 2026)
Birth places of children and the date of the Jones resident in Well House.
A reference in George Alfred Jones’s letter of 1892 from the Bedford Regiment, Raglan Barracks, Devonport (letter No.4 of that year) stated that he was born in the Plymouth area in 1866 and not in Well House. Recent checks online of births (BMD website) show that his birth was registered in Stoke Damerel, Plymouth, Devon, for the period March to June 1866.
In the light of the above, the birth area of each of George’s siblings was checked and it was found that Louisa Hannah Jones’s birth was registered in Greenwich in 1868. It was also determined that Augustus John Jones who had been born in Limerick died in Greenwich in 1868, age 4 yrs..
All subsequent children were born when John Jones had left the Armed Services and he and Eliza Ann were living in Well House, the children’s births being registered in Newport Pagnell. The daughter Eliza Ann was born on the 6th February 1870.and was the first of the children to be born in Well House. Records show that the two daughters, Eliza Ann and Alice, died on the same day, 28th April 1875, aged 5 and 3 respectively.
It follows from the above that the Jones family moved into Well House sometime after March 1868 but before February 1870., which is a few years later than the previously stated date of 1865 in the Well House document.
A further important source for the later Jones family information was the handwritten entries by the Jones family members on otherwise blank fly-sheets of a book kept by the Jones family. The book titled “An Incorruptible Key Composed of the hundred and tenth Psalme“, written by Samuel Gorton was printed in London in 1647. George Augustus Ruston had received the book from a friend, James Sweetman, in 1861 when he was resident in the Union Workhouse in Portsea following a ‘paralysis attack’. It was later passed-on to John William Jones his son-in-law. Both of these changes in ownership are recorded in the book. The subsequent entries recording the births and deaths of the Jones family members including those of John William Jones, his wife Eliza Ann, the birth dates of their all children and the dates of death for the three children who died in infancy.
The book was donated to The John Rylands Library, Manchester, (in May, 2022) in accordance with the wishes of Gillian N B Thompson following her death in Sept. 2019. The book is catalogued online in the Special Collection Category, Ref. R23426, where transcriptions of the references to the Jones family can be read online.
Much of the early Jones family information contained in the above pages was recorded in a pocketbook belonging to George Augustus Ruston (b.1808; d.1968), Eliza Ann Jones’ father, who lived in Portsmouth. This pocketbook has been donated to the Portsmouth Museum and Art Galley (17th May 2023, Entry No. 3877). The pocketbook also contains references to local and national events of the time.
Other items associated with the family were also donated included:
a) The glass slide portrait of Eliza Ann Ruston (George Augustus’ younger daughter) taken in 1855 on her 18th birthday, 9th June. (A scanned copy is contained on page 5 of the above document)
b) A bone handled wax-seal stamp with initials RR that had belonged to Roger Ruston (b.1775; d.1849), George Augustus’ father.
c) A collection (about 100) of greetings cards assembled between 1885 and 1900 by Louisa Hannah Jones, Eliza Ann’s eldest daughter, while working in domestic service in Portsmouth.
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