Thomas Jones

Thomas Jones (ca. 1550 – 10 April 1619) was Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was also Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral and Bishop of Meath. He was the patrilineal ancestor of the Viscounts Ranelagh. Early life Jones was a native of Lancashire. He was the son of Henry Jones, Esq. of Middleton. Nothing is known of his mother. His brother, Sir Roger Jones, Alderman of London, was knighted at Whitehall. Thomas acquired a Master of Arts from Christ's College, Cambridge in 1573, after which he relocated to Ireland. He married a widow, Margaret Purdon, who was also a sister-in-law of Archbishop Adam Loftus; she is thought to have been a member of the prominent landowning Purdon family of Ballyclogh, County Cork. His relationship with Loftus proved beneficial to Jones. He has been referred to, uncharitably, as Loftus's "pale shadow"; a more balanced view is that the two men thought alike on most issues and so worked harmoniously together. Jones was named Chancellor of St. Patrick's Cathedral and was elected Dean in 1581. While Dean, Jones granted questionable leases of church property including, in particular, a 161-year lease of a coal mine which caused a later Dean of St. Patrick's, Jonathan Swift, to rebuke Jones severely for his improvidence: Archbishop When the Archbishop of Armagh, Thomas Lancaster, died in 1584, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland (and former archbishop of Armagh), Adam Loftus, recommended Jones as his replacement, despite the unfortunate effects of his improvident leases of Church land. John Long was chosen for the position instead but, on 10 May 1584, at the written urging of Queen Elizabeth, Jones was named Bishop of Meath. He was immediately called to the Privy Council of Ireland by the government of Lord Deputy John Perrot, a position he held for 20 years.