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James William Webb-Jones (1904 – 1965) was a Welsh choral conductor, educator, and cricketer.

James William Webb-Jones
Born	21 February 1904 Cowbridge, Glamorgan, Wales
Died	29 December 1965 Witham Hall, Lincolnshire, England
Resting place	St. Andrew's Church, Witham on the Hill, England
Nationality	Welsh
Education	Cranleigh School
Alma mater	Worcester College, Oxford (BA; MA) University of Grenoble (Diplôme de Hautes Études)
Occupation	Choral conductor; Headmaster
Known for	Headmaster of St George's School, Windsor Castle (1934 – 1942) Headmaster of Vanbrugh Castle School (1951 – 1955) Headmaster of Wells Cathedral School (1955 – 1964)
Spouse(s)	Barbara Bindon Moody (m. 1930, Windsor), d. of Colonel Richard S. Hawks Moody
Parents	Ernest William Jones (father) Aimée Elizabeth Parson, who was the daughter of James Parson and of Jessy Burton (mother)
Relatives	Arthur Webb-Jones (uncle) Edwin Price Jones, Vice-Consul for Chile (uncle) William (Bill) Wynn Jones, Bishop of Central Tanganyika (cousin) Major-General James Fitzgerald Martin (brother-in-law)

Family and Early Life

James William, who was born in Cowbridge, Glamorgan, Wales,[1] was the only child of the trans-European steamship agent[2][3][4] Ernest William Jones[5][6] (1870 – 1941),[7] who was the owner of M. Jones and Brothers (est. 1856)[2][8] and who was a first-class cricketer.[7] James William's mother was Aimée Elizabeth Parson (1873 – 1913),[5] who was the French-born daughter of James Holmes Parson who was a British merchant banker in Italy.[9] James William's parents were married at the British Consulate in Rouen, Haute Normandie, on 10 September 1900.[9]

James William's uncles included the gynaecologist Arthur Webb-Jones,[10] and Edwin Price Jones, who was Vice-Consul for Chile[11] and Secretary to the Chamber of Commerce.[2] James William was (through his cousin William (Bill) Wynn Jones[12] who was Anglican Bishop of Central Tanganyika)[13][14] a cousin of the National Party conservative Naomi Wilson OAM (b. 1940).[15] James William descended (through his mother Aimée Parson) from the Georgian property-developer James Burton, who was the father of the architect Decimus Burton.

Education

James William was educated at Cranleigh School,[5][16] for which he played cricket,[17] and at Worcester College, Oxford,[5][16] where he was Captain of Cricket.[5][16] He later attended the University of Grenoble in France,[5][16] where he received the Diplôme de Hautes Études.[5][16]

James William's father Ernest, and his cousin William, and his son-in-law Peter, were members of the Jesters Cricket Club,[1] which was founded in 1928 by John 'Jock' Forbes Burnet (1910 - 1980) of St. Paul's School, London.[18] James William played for the Jesters, alongside his father, against the Eton College Servants, in 1931, and, alongside his cousin William, against Chertsey, also in 1931.[1]

Career

• Assistant Headmaster of St George's School, Windsor Castle, from 1928 to 1934.[5][16]
• Headmaster of St George's School, Windsor Castle, from 1934 to 1942.[19][5][16]
• He left St George's School in 1942, to serve in the Royal Air Force during World War II, from 1942 to 1945.[5][16][20]
• Housemaster, Wellington School, Somerset, from 1945 to 1950.[5][16]
• Headmaster of Vanbrugh Castle School from 1951 to 1955.[5][16]
• Headmaster of Wells Cathedral School from 1955 to 1964,[5][16] where Peter Stanley Lyons was Director of Music from 1954 to 1960.[21]

Marriage

James William married, at the Parish Church, Windsor, on 20 December 1930,[6][16] Barbara Bindon[22] Moody[16][5] (1903 - 1973),[22] of Emperor's Gate, South Kensington,[6] who was the daughter of Colonel Richard Stanley Hawks Moody CB and the granddaughter of Major-General Richard Clement Moody (who was the founder and the first Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia). James Webb-Jones and Barbara Moody had only one child, Bridget (b. 5 September 1937),[5][23] who married the chorister Peter Stanley Lyons[23][16] at Wells Cathedral in 1957.[21][24] The godmother of Bridget Webb-Jones was Lady Walford Davies,[25] who was the wife of the composer Sir Henry Walford Davies KCVO OBE, who had been Master of the King's Music at St George's Chapel, Windsor, when James Webb-Jones had been Headmaster of St George's School, Windsor Castle. Lady Walford Davies later married Julian Harold Legge Lambart, who was Vice-Provost of Eton College, for which Witham Hall School became a preparatory school.[25][26]

Retirement and Death

James William and his wife, Barbara, retired to Witham Hall,[16] where his son-in-law Peter Stanley Lyons was Headmaster of the School.[25][21][16] Webb-Jones's hobbies were cricket, and fives, and fishing,[5] and wine.[16] Harold Lyons was the sommelier at London's Savoy Hotel and Dorchester Hotel,[27] and Webb-Jones kept a wine store in the basement of Vanbrugh Castle.[16][28] James Webb-Jones died, possibly as a consequence of alcoholism,[16] at Witham Hall in 1965, and is buried at The Church of St. Andrew, Witham on the Hill.[16] His wife lived at Witham Hall until her death in 1973, after which she was buried next to her husband.

Further reading

• "WEBB-JONES, James William (1904–1965)". Who's Who, Oxford Index. Oxford University Press.
• "Entry for James William Webb-Jones, Headmasters of Vanbrugh Castle School, Vanbrugh Castle School".
• "Profile for James William Webb-Jones, Vanbrugh Castle School".
• "Entry for Jones, M., & Brother, Steamship Agents, Who's Who in Business (1914)".

References

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