John Daniel JonesCH (13 April 1865 – 19 April 1942) was a WelshCongregational minister.
He was born in Ruthin, Denbighshire, the son of Joseph David Jones (1827–70), a schoolmaster in the town and a respected musician and composer. The family moved to Tywyn, his mother's home town. In 1877, after the early death of his father, his mother married David Morgan Bynner, a Congregational minister at Chorley. After studying at Manchester University, Lancashire Independent College and St Andrews University, he was ordained at Newland Congregational Church, Lincoln in 1889.[1]
Jones became well known as the minister of Richmond Hill Church, Bournemouth where he was minister from 1898 to 1937. He was elected chairman of the Congregational Union of England and Wales in 1909–10, and again in 1925–6. In 1919 he was elected an honorary secretary of the union, a position which he held until his death.[2]
Politically a Liberal, Jones spoke regularly in support of his brother Henry Haydn Jones, MP for Merioneth from 1910 to 1945. Lloyd George was a personal friend and in retirement a near neighbour and visitor.[3]
After his return to Wales to retire, he was the subject of a memorable satirical poem by Saunders Lewis.[4]