A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Jones, William

by William H. Husk

JONES, Rev. William, known as 'Jones of Nayland,' born at Lowick, Northamptonshire, July 30, 1726, and educated at the Charter House and at University College, Oxford. He included music in his studies and became very proficient in it. In 1764 he was presented to the vicarage of Bethersden, Kent, and subsequently became Rector of Pluckley in the same county, which he exchanged for the Rectory of Paston, Northamptonshire. He is said to have been presented to the Perpetual Curacy of Nayland, Suffolk, in 1776, but his name does not occur in the registers until 1784. In Jan. 1784 he published 'A Treatise on the Art of Music,' which gained him considerable reputation. In March, 1789, he published by subscription his Op. ii, 'Ten Church Pieces for the Organ, with Four Anthems in score [a psalm tune^[1] and a double chant], composed for the use of the Church of Nayland in Suffolk, and published for its benefit.' In 1798 he became Rector of Hollingbourne, Kent. He was the author of many theological, philosophical, and miscellaneous works. He died at Nayland, Jan. 6, 1800, and was buried in the vestry of the church on Jan. 14. A second edition of his Treatise on Music was published at Sudbury in 1827.

[ W. H. H. ]

1. Now known as S. Stephen's.