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PERSONALITIES
OF BARRY 3.-Major’
EDGAR JONES, MA., OBE. In
this series it is not our intention to observe any order of seniority or of
precedence, ifor Personalities’’ may be away or otherwise inaccessible, and
so destroy the sequence of any list which may have been compiled. Our intention
is to place on record such facts as we can discover of those men and women—who
have contributed materially to the development of Barry. In
1934 there retired from an appointment in Barry a man who has served the
community well since 1889 and exercised an influence which will be felt for many
years for we do not readily forget our headmaster, particularly one so well
beloved as Major Edgar Jones. He
was born in 1868 at Llanrhaiadr in Mongomeryshire, the son of Mr. Bellis Jones,
who was headmaster of Llanrhaiadr School and organist of Llanrhaiadr Church. EARLY
LIFE After
studying for a time at his father’s school, he went to the Northern Institute
at Liverpool and was there at the time of the Fenian Riots. Everton then played
in Stanley Park within a stone’s throw of the present ground of the Liverpool
F.C., and later, whilst at Oswestry, Major Jones played at outside right, inside
right and centre half for teams representative of Oswestrv and District against
Everton and the Manchester teams. From
Liverpool, he went to Oswestry High School under Mr. Owen Owen (who later became
the first chief inspector of the C.W.B.) and from there in 1885 to the newly
established University College of \Vales at Aberyswyth. After
graduating at Aberyswyth he returned to this old school at Oswestrv to teach
English, French and Athletics, but in a few years he returned to Aberyswyth to
read English and Celtic for the degree of Master of Arts of London University. Major
Jones’ next appointment was in September, 1894 to Llandilo as one of the first
headmasters under the Intermediate Education Act of 1889 which ushered in the
present secondary school education. WORK
IN BARRY He
stayed at Llandilo for 4½ years until his appointment as headmaster of the
County School at Barry where he commenced on March 1st , 1889. At
the time of his appointment the School was three years old and had 157 pupils,
but the number grew so rapidly that the buildings had to be enlarged in his
first year. Temporary accommodation was found in the buildings which now serve
as the Y.M.C.A. headquarters in Newland Street and as the Health Clinic in
Woodlands Road until the re-building was completed. In those days the school was
almost in the country and the only approaches from Barry were along field paths
or a narrow lane. One of Major Jones’ early fears was that the boys might do
some serious hurt either to themselves or to other people when “scorching”
along this lane on their bicycles! Early
in his career at Barry Major Edgar Jones appreciated the value of
“differentiation” and in 1913 he started a system which the recent
Spens Report advocates. He divided the School into four departments, one of a
general scholastic nature, another technical, another commercial, and another
agricultural. For the latter department he had a teacher who had keen trained:
in agriculture, and all the farmers within a. radius of ten miles were
circularized asking if they wished their sons to be attached to this department.
One reply was received! Thus
the curriculum of the County School has tried to meet the aptitudes of its
various pupils since 1913, and, and seemingly anticipated events by 16 years. In
addition to this important development. 1913 saw another change. Until then the
school had been mixed but in 1913 a new Girls’ School built was built and the
school was divided into two separate departments, one for boys and the other for
girls. Throughout
the whole of the War Major Jones was away from School with the Glamorgan
Fortress Royal Engineers at Cardiff and the different ports, hut was able to
return occasionally to deal with the appointment of temporary teachers. Eventually
he was appointed Major and given the command of the Glamorgan Fortress Royal
Engineers, with his headquarters at Cardiff. Just
before the end of the War he was awarded for services as Officer commanding the
Glamorgan F.R.E. the Military O.B.E.,, and also received the Territorial
Decoration. POST-WAR
RECORD It
was not until February l919 that he was able to resume his school life and
nothing disturbed his tenure until his retirement in 1934, after 35 years as
Headmaster. During that time the School had grown from a mixed school with 157
pupils to two separate schools with over 1,000 pupils. Major
Jones is proud of the fact that one year his VIth Form was held up as a model of
VIth Form work. As Headmaster his practical policy was
founded on the basis o differentiation having regard to the aptitude of
each pupil in the se1e~tion of studies in the Upper School. OTHER
ACTIVITIES Major
Jones is a member of the Central Welsh Board and of University Court of which he
has been a member of the Executive, Clerk, Treasurer, and Warden of the Guild of
Graduates. He
is a member of the University Board of Celtic Studies and Honorary Secretary of
its Archaeological Subcommittee. He
is also a member of the Court and Councils of the University College of South
Wales, Cardiff, the University College of Wales, Aberyswyth, the National
Museum of Wales, and of the Art Committee of the University of Wales and of
its Subcommittees. So
far as the Barry Urban District Council is concerned he has been chairman of its
Education Committee and also a member of the Evening Schools Committee. Major
Jones was vice-chairman of the Eisteddfod; which was held in Barry in 1920, aiid
is now a member of the staff of the West Region of the British Broadcasting
Corporation, where he is in control of the Religious Services and Appeals and a
member of the Education Committee. In
1922 the University of Wales conferred on him the coveted distinction of the
honorary degree of Master of Arts, for services rendered to education and
general culture in Wales. (Later an
Ll. D. and was made a Freeman of
the town of Barry) He
is one of the few surviving members of the first Central Welsh Board of
Education which controls examines and inspects secondary education in Wales. FAMILY Shortly
after his appointment to Llandilo in 1884 he married Miss A. Gwen Jones, so
culminating a romance which began at Aberystwyth. Mrs. Jones has played a
prominent part in the public life of Barry, for she is a Justice of the Peace
for the Hundred of Dinas Powis, and ex-President of the 20th Century Club and
leader of its Archaeological Section for many years, Chairman of the women’s
sub-committee of the local Employment Committee and Chairman of the
Reception Committee and Vice-chairman of the Art Committee of the
Eisteddfod. She is a former member of the Council of Aberdare Hall, and of
University College, Cardiff. Major
and Mrs. Jones have had three children, a boy, Gareth, whose murder on August
12th, 1935, in China is still fresh in the min, and two daughters.
On is the new headmistress of the County School for Girls and the other
is the wife of Dr. J. Stanley Lewis, who is head of the Chemistry Department of
the Royal Naval College and a Kent County Rugby player, Dr. and Mrs. Lewis have
two children, a boy and a girl. Although
the facts reveal that Major Jones is 71, it is difficult to imagine that he was
born so long ago as 1868. His
youthful voice belies the colour of his hair his and his interest in sport and
the careers of his former pupils is keen as ever. Although
his influence on Barry cannot be measured in exact terms—it is nonetheless
real for he has had the guidance through those difficult years of adolescence of
thousands of boys and girls, some of whom have now reached years of maturity
and many of whom will have to guide Barry through the difficult years ahead. |
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