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Ernest Charles Jones

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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ERNEST CHARLES JONES (1819-1869), English Chartist, was born at Berlin on the 25th of January 1819, and educated in Germany. His father, an officer in the British army, was then equerry to the duke of Cumberland-afterwards king of Hanover. In 1838 Jones came to England, and in 1841 published anonymously The Wood Spirit, a romantic novel. This was followed by some songs and poems. In 1844 he was called to the bar at the Middle Temple. In 1845 he joined the Chartist agitation, quickly becoming its most prominent figure, and vigorously carrying on the party's campaign on the platform and in the press. His speeches, in which he openly advocated physical force, led to his prosecution, and he was sentenced in 1848 to two years' imprisonment for sedition. While in prison he wrote, it is said in his own blood on leaves torn from a prayer-book, The Revolt of Hindostan, an epic poem. On his release he again became the leader of what remained of the Chartist party and editor of its organ. But he was almost its only public speaker; he was out of sympathy with the other leading Chartists, and soon joined the advanced Radical party. Thenceforward he devoted himself to law and literature, writing novels, tales and political songs. He made several unsuccessful attempts to enter parliament, and was about to contest Manchester, with the certainty of being returned, when he died there on the 26th of January 1869. He is believed to have sacrificed a considerable fortune rather than abandon his Chartist principles. His wife was Jane Atherley; and his son, Llewellyn Atherley-Jones, K.C. (b. 1851), became a well-known barrister and Liberal member of parliament.