Background
Jenkins was the son of Jenkin Jenkins of Morriston, Glamorgan and his wife Sarah Jones.
metallurgist patron of the arts politician
Jenkins was the son of Jenkin Jenkins of Morriston, Glamorgan and his wife Sarah Jones.
They all became aldermen and served as Mayor of Wolverhampton. Master Alderman John Jones served as Mayor of Wolverhampton, for three consecutive terms, 1878-1879, 1879-1880 and 1880-1881, the second longest consecutive period to date. A former Mayor of Wolverhampton, William Highfield Jones, wrote in his book Story of the Municipal Life of Wolverhampton of the collapse of the market in iron during the term of office of Alderman John Jones in the late 1870s:
While Mr.
Jones was Mayor, a season of bad trade set in, which caused distress among the labouring classes.
The depression was specially felt in the iron making industry of the district, and brought on a crisis. Firms hitherto of good repute failed to meet their engagements, among these the Chillington Works, the Parkfield Colliery Company, and several others
The largest and most important firm in the town was G. B. Thorneycroft & Company. The partners in this firm, finding they could not continue making iron except at a great loss, determined to close their works.
This was a great blow to the iron workers.
Besides this, many of the blast furnaces around were blown out, and the ironworks in the district were silent. Hundreds of decent men wandered about unable to find work. In addition to these troubles, on January 12th a heavy fall of snow came down, followed by a severe frost, which continued until the end of March.
The frost put an entire stop to building operations and all kinds of outdoor employment.
The effect was soon felt, and in a short time thousands of families were on the point of starvation. Every day crowds of hungry labouring men could be seen blocking up the thoroughfares opposite the Town Hall, North Street, and the Union Workhouse on the Bilston Road, all clamouring for work or bread.
The Mayor showed great energy in dealing with the emergency. He opened a relief fund, and appealed to the public for subscriptions.
His appeal was generously responded to, and he instantly organised centres for the distribution of bread, oatmeal, coals, et cetera
The Guardians of the Poor did their utmost to mitigate the suffering. The company referred to, G. B. Thorneycroft & Company, had been founded by the first Mayor of Wolverhampton, George Benjamin Thorneycroft, in 1824. They had a further three children.
Jones died 18 July 1897 in Wolverhampton.
22nd United Kingdom Parliament. 23rd United Kingdom Parliament. 26th United Kingdom Parliament]
He stood unsuccessfully for parliament at Carmarthen in 1880, but was elected Member of Parliament for the constituency in a byelection in 1882 and held the seat until 1886.