John JONES,
Pte 15270,
1^st Battalion, South Wales Borderers

Born - Nelson, Glam
Enlisted - Newport, Monmouthshire

Died - 21^st December 1914 Western Front
Killed in action aged 31 yrs

Commemorated at Le Touret Memorial, Nr Armentieres, France on panels 14 and 15

Youngest son of James and Ellen M. Jones, of Sunny Bank, Pengam, Cardiff.

John Jones was one of six children born to James and Ellen Jones. James was born in Nelson in 1855 while Ellen was born in Wiltshire in about 1854. They were married at Pontypridd, Glamorgan in April/May/June 1875. In 1881 they were living near Gelliargwellt Farm, not too far from Nelson and, had started their family.

William was born in 1875,
Mary was born in 1877, and,
Henry was born in 1879.

James was shown as a ‘stationery engine driver’, possibly an early description of the pithead winding gear controller. In later records, James’ role appears to be the same but there is an addition to confirm that he worked in a colliery.
Had James remained at Gelliargwellt, he and his sons may very well have worked at Penallta Colliery which was sunk in 1909. They would have been only a few hundred metres from the coalmine.

By 1891 the Jones family had moved to Gellihaf Road, Pengam, Nr Blackwood. By now, the family had been completed with the addition of:

Giles, born at Nelson in 1881,
John, born at Nelson in 1884, and,
Elizabeth, born at Nelson in 1887.

By 1901, the family had moved again, this time to Coedcae Cottages, Fleur-de-Lys, Blackwood. John, at the age of seventeen was shown as a colliery haulier, as were his brothers Henry and William.