Career
He was prosecuted for his part in the Chartist Newport Rising at Newport, Monmouthshire on 4 November 1839. Along with John Frost and Zephaniah Williams, he was appointed a leader of a column of men in what is sometimes regarded as the greatest armed rebellion in 19th-century Britain. Jones was supposed to be bringing men to Newport from the Pontypool area and the eastern valleys of Monmouthshire on the night of the rising, but they never arrived, delaying the main body of Chartists final march into Newport into the daylight hours and thus partly contributing to its defeat.
He was captured a few days after the rising.
He was imprisoned in Monmouth County Gaol and placed on trial at the Shire Hall in Monmouth. He was sentenced to death for High Treason, but his sentence was commuted and he was sentenced to penal transportation to Australia for life.
He received a Conditional Pardon in 1854 which was amended to a Full Pardon in 1856. He died in Australia, in poverty.
In March 1847, the House of Commons debated a proposal for their repatriation, but it was defeated by 196 votes to 31 (including the vote of Disraeli).
John Frost returned to England. Jones decided to remain behind in Australia and stuck by his watchmakers"s trade. He died in 1873.