Private John Fitzwilliam Jones
Number: 11201/ 44326
Company: 61st (Dublin) Company, 17th Battalion, First Contingent/ 132nd (Irish Horse) Company, 29th Battalion, Third Contingent
ENLISTMENT
Date: 15 January 1900/ 18 February 1902
Place: Newbridge/ Curragh
Age: 20 years stated on first enlistment. (Born 27 February 1882 in Church Street, Portadown, County Armagh.)
Trade or calling: None/ None
Place of birth: In the Parish of Boyle/ Portadown, in or near the Town of Boyle/ Portadown, in the County of Roscommon/ Armagh.
Family: Single. Father William Jones resident magistrate (formerly Sub-Inspector R.I.C.), mother Mary/ May Jones (nee Crowly), of Termon House, Boyle, County Roscommon.
Previous military service: No
Description: Height 5' 9 3/4". Complexion dark/ fair, eyes grey/ blue, hair dark/ black. Tattoo marks right forearm - Heart with J. J in centre; left forearm anchor.
Religion: 'Other Protestant' recorded on first enlistment; Church of England on second enlistment. Family recorded as Church of Ireland in 1901 Census.
ACTIVE SERVICE
Date to South Africa: 6 April 1900/ 10 May 1902
Date home: 10 June 1901/ __
Service medal, clasps and other awards: Queen's South Africa Medal. Rhodesia, Transvaal, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, 1901, 1902 clasps.
DISCHARGE
Date: 15 June 1901/ 19 November 1902
Place: Dublin/ Stellenbosch, Cape Colony
Reason for discharge: The termination of his engagement/ At his own request
Intended place of residence: Termon, Boyle, County Roscommon/ Cape Police M.3
Conduct: Very good/ Very good
Special qualifications: Nil/ None
Jones may have been the Corporal Jones mentioned in a letter written home by a fellow Yeoman from Umtali on 28 June 1900, relating to an attempted shooting by a civilian, which was published in the Northern Whig of 4 August. It can be seen here. (The only other possibility is Private George E. Jones - No. 11258.)
According to a later record, Jones had "joined the Leinster regiment (Imperial) in 1899. In 1901 to 1911 was in the Cape Mounted Police."
He then emigrated to Canada. On 9 January 1912 at St John's he enlisted in A Squadron of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, giving his occupation as a farmer. On 22 September 1914 at Valcartier he re-enlisted in the Dragoons (No.218). He served in France and Belgium from May 1915, rising to the rank of sergeant. He was wounded in the shoulder at Messines in September 1915, fractured his patella in a riding accident in January 1916, dislocated his right shoulder in October 1916, and was wounded in the left arm in March 1917. He was awarded a Military Medal in the field in March 1918, and a Distinguished Conduct Medal in February 1919. He was discharged at Toronto on 4 July 1919.
Jones died on 29 May 1962 at New Brighton, British Columbia.
This page last updated 9 August 2026.