John Jones

John Jones (born Nov. 10, 1766, Glanygors near Cerrig-y-Druidion, Denbighshire, Wales—died May 21, 1821, London) was a Welsh-language satirical poet and social reformer who, under the impact of the French Revolution, produced some of the earliest Welsh political writings. Greatly influenced by the political and social essays of the American and French Revolutionary propagandist Thomas Paine, he published his views in two pamphlets: “Seren tan Gwmmwl” (1795; “A Star Under Cloud”) and “Toriad y Dydd” (1797; “The Break of Day”).

Probably educated at the free school at Llanrwst, Denbighshire, he settled in London in 1789 and became proprietor of the King’s Head Inn, Ludgate Hill. He was a member of the Gwyneddigion, a literary society of Welshmen living in London. Other works include the poems “Sessiwn yng Nghymru,” a satire on the difficulties arising from the use of the English language to administer law in Wales; and “Dic Shon Dafydd” (1803), a satiric characterization of a Welshman who feigns ignorance of his native tongue.