Alfred Lewis Jones

Alfred Lewis Jones
Sir Alfred Lewis Jones (24 February 1845 – 13 December 1909) was a Welsh businessman and ship-owner.
Early life
Jones was born on 24 February 1845 in Carmarthen, Wales. His father was Daniel Jones, owner of The Welshman, a weekly newspaper, and the only son of Charles Jones, Alderman of Carmarthen. His mother was Mary Jean Williams, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Henry Williams, rector of Llanedi.
When Jones was three years old, they moved to Liverpool. By his own recollection, his childhood was "happy and uneventful." He could not remember "any amusing escapades or stirring adventures." Jones excelled at arithmetic and was very keen on swimming and sailing.
Career
Early career
At the age of twelve, Jones was apprenticed to the managers of the African Steamship Company at Liverpool, making several voyages to the west coast of Africa. By the time he was twenty-six he had risen to be manager of the business. Not finding sufficient scope in this post, he borrowed money to purchase two or three small sailing vessels, and started in the shipping business on his own account. The venture succeeded, and he made additions to his fleet, but after a few years' successful trading, realizing that sailing ships were about to be superseded by steamers, he sold his vessels.
Elder, Dempster & Co.
Jones took a keen interest in imperial affairs. He acquired considerable territorial interests in West Africa, where he acquired considerable land and business, and financial interests in many of the companies engaged in opening up and developing that part of the world. He was the first merchant to import bananas to England in 1884 and became a friend of the Fyffe family. The ships of the Elder, Dempster & Co. line eventually became known as the "banana boats."
Messrs. Elder, Dempster & Co., who purchased the business of the old African Steamship Company, offered Jones a managerial post in 1891. This offer he accepted, subject to Messrs. Elder, Dempster selling him a number of their shares, and he thus acquired an interest in the business, and subsequently, by further share purchases, its control.
In the same year, Jones was requested by King Leopold II of Belgium to dampen British criticism of human rights abuses in the Congo. He thusly sponsored the travels of novelist May French Sheldon. While in the Congo, she traveled on steamboats owned by the state and its company allies, who controlled where she went and what she saw. When she returned to England, Jones placed her articles in the newspapers. She stated "I have witnessed more atrocities in London streets than I have ever seen in the Congo."
Elder Dempster employed both E.D. Morel and Roger Casement, who in time became bitter enemies of Jones.
Later career and monopolies
As a result of increased trade with West Africa, Britain saw a dramatic increase in tropical diseases in the latter half of the 19th century. In response to an appeal by Joseph Chamberlain, Jones proposed to contribute £350 per annum for three years to the study of tropical medicine at the Annual Dinner of the students of the Royal Southern Hospital on 12 November 1898. William Adamson, president of the hospital, accepted his offer, and proposals were drawn up to form the Liverpool School of Tropical Diseases, which would later become the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
In the early 1900s, Jones had a monopoly on the Congo-Antwerp mail traffic as well as consular duties representing King Leopold II's Congo State in Liverpool. Described by W. T. Stead as the "Uncrowned King of West Africa", Jones had myriad interests. In 1900, in order to supply his ships with bunker fuel and support his coaling stations in the Canary Islands and Sierra Leone, he formed Elder's Navigation Collieries Ltd. and bought the Oakwood and Garth Merthyr colleries near Maesteg in the Llynfi valley, south Wales.
Jones took the leading part in opening up a new line of communication with the West Indies, and in stimulating the Jamaica fruit trade and tourist traffic. He also developed the tourist trade in the Canary Islands and the banana industry there. Jones was chairman of the Bank of British West Africa. He had been interested in cotton growing in West Africa and had even distributed cotton seed there. As a result, in 1902, he was approached, and became, inaugural President of the British Cotton Growing Association. In June 1903, he became chairman of the Liverpool Institute of Tropical Research, president of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, and a member of Joseph Chamberlain's tariff commission, formed in 1904. He was a justice of the peace (JP) for Liverpool.
Decorations and honours
Jones was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 1901 Birthday Honours list on 9 November 1901 "in recognition of services to the West African Colonies, and to Jamaica", and invested as such by King Edward VII at St James's Palace on 17 December 1901. In May 1902, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford.
He was also the recipient of many foreign decorations, from Belgium, Russia, Portugal, Liberia and others. In 1906, King Alfonso XIII of Spain conferred on him the Order of Isabella the Catholic in recognition of "the great services rendered by Sir Alfred in promoting agriculture in and generally developing the trade and commerce of the Canary Islands." In the same year, Jones had entertained the King on his visit to the Canaries.
Death and legacy
A fortnight before his death, Jones contracted a chill while travelling home from London. He attended a farewell dinner to Sir Hesketh Bell on 7 December 1909, despite poor health, and was confined to his house thereafter. Jones died on 13 December 1909 in Liverpool. He was buried in Anfield Cemetery, where the epitaph reads "He worked that he might give."
Having never married, Jones' eldest niece's husband (Owen Harrison Williams) was the executor of his will. Williams was for twenty years occupied in the managing of this gross estate, which amounted to over £670,000 (in excess of £65 million today). Many hundreds of individuals, charities and institutions would benefit from his will.
In 1913, the Memorial of Sir Alfred Lewis Jones, a commemorative bust length by George Frampton, was unveiled at Pier Head, Liverpool.
The Sir Alfred Jones Memorial Hospital was formally opened on 23 February 1916. It was demolished in 2009 and, in tribute, the Sir Alfred Jones Memorial Garden was dedicated. A number of other sites are dedicated to Sir Alfred, including the Sir Alfred Jones Research Laboratory in Freetown, Sierra Leone and the Sir Alfred Jones Trade School.
Jones is credited with introducing the banana to Britain. Through his business endeavours, he "put the Canaries on the map." Alfredo L Jones Street, a main street in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is named after him. Jones' importing of fruit to Britain led to a constant stream of ships arriving into London’s South Quay Dock and the naming of Canary Wharf, after the ships' origin.
References
External links
1845 births
1909 deaths
19th-century English businesspeople
19th-century Welsh businesspeople
Businesspeople awarded knighthoods
Businesspeople from Liverpool
Conservative Party (UK) politicians
Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford
Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
People from Aigburth
People from Carmarthenshire
Welsh businesspeople in shipping