Ken Jones (Jamaican politician)
Kenneth Jones | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Communications and Works | |
| In office 1962 – 1964 (his death) | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Alexander Bustamante |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kenneth Arthur Newton Jones 1 September 1924 Portland, Colony of Jamaica, British Empire |
| Died | 11 October 1964 (aged 40) St James, Jamaica |
| Political party | Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) |
| Spouse | Marlene d'Auvergne Holtz |
| Relations | Evan Jones (brother) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parents |
|
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Royal Air Force (RAF) |
| Years of service | 1943–1945 |
| Rank | Flight Sergeant |
| Battles/wars | The Second World War |
The Hon. Kenneth Arthur Newton Jones (1 September 1924 – 11 October 1964), better known as Ken Jones, was a Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) politician and Minister of Communications and Works in the nation's first independent Cabinet from 1962 until his sudden and suspicious death in 1964.[1]
Biography
[edit]Early life and family
[edit]Jones and his twin brother Keith Frederick Newton Jones were born at Stone Haven, his family home in Hector's River, Portland. Their father, the Hon. Fred M. Jones OBE, was a wealthy planter and Custos of Portland. Their mother, Gladys Jones MBE (née Smith), was a Quaker educator who, in 1918, had come to Portland as a missionary, teaching at Happy Grove School. There, she played an important role in the school, helping to transform it from a vocational to academic institution. Jones was also the elder brother of Evan Jones, the influential Jamaican writer.[2]
Jones's interest in public service perhaps originated from his parents, both of whom were inducted into the Order of the British Empire for their charitable and civic works: In Elizebeth II's 1959 New Year Honours, Gladys Jones was awarded the rank of Member, the same year she was serving as a justice of the peace.[3] Fred M. Jones was granted the rank of Officer in the Queen's 1963 New Year Honours.[4]
Education and military service
[edit]Jones attended the prestigious Munro College, a boarding school for boys in St Elizabeth, between 1935 and 1942. Subsequently, he left Jamaica to attended Earlham College in Indiana. In 1943, however, he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF). Upon completion of his training in Canada, Jones served as a Flight Sergeant,[5] alongside his school friends Flt Lt David Errol Chance and Fg Offr Oliver Marshall.[2] During the Second World War, an estimated 400 Jamaicans served as air crew in the RAF, of which Jones was one.[2]
Political Career
[edit]In 1946, Jones returned to Jamaica, first working as the director of his family's business, Fred M. Jones Estates, and as vice president of the Portland Chamber of Commerce. In 1951, however, he was elected to the Portland Parochial Board, marking the beginning of his career in public service.[2]
In 1953, he served as a justice of the peace and in 1955 he was elected to the House of Representatives as MP for Portland Eastern. In 1962, Ken Jones was appointed Minister of Communications and Works of Jamaica. The major achievements during his tenure include:
- Launching a program to twin the bridges on the national highway.
- Commencing work on the Sandy Gully Drainage System in Kingston.
- Instituting a program to build post offices with living quarters upstairs.
- Trans Atlantic telephone service was opened to the UK and agreements were in place for Air Canada and Lufthansa to commence service to Jamaica.
Personal life and death
[edit]In 1958, Jones married to Marlene d'Auvergne Holtz of Kingston, to which a daughter was born in 1960.[2]
Jones was a Freemason belonging to St Thomas Lodge No. 4338, who reached the rank of Master Mason.[2]
On 11 October 1964, Ken Jones died in an untimely manner. The Gleaner, Jamaica's pre-eminent newspaper, reported his death with these words:
'MONTEGO BAY, S.J., Oct. 11: "THE HON. KENNETH JONES, Minister of Communications and Works, died in the Montego Bay hospital this morning as a result of injuries he suffered in a fall from the upstairs balcony of his room at the Sunset Lodge Hotel, where members of the Cabinet, other members of the Parliament and their top Civil Service advisers were spending the week-end in a special "retreat" conference to review Government politics and plan future action'.[1]
It was concluded that Jones had died from injuries sustained from a fall from his hotel balcony while sleepwalking. However, the cause of his death remains controversial, with many suspecting varying degrees of foul play. In 1994, The Gleaner published a series of articles questioning the legitimacy of the inquest and other suspicious circumstances surrounding his death. Chiefly, the newspaper reported that hotel staff whom were witness to Jones's death were pressured to revise their statements by police and that a bloodstain in his room was painted over. Two witnesses reported seeing an unidentified woman on his balcony after he fell.[6][7][8]
Jones's funeral was held at the Friend's Church in Happy Grove, Portland, and attended by thousands of mourners who had gathered to hear the service on loud speakers.[2][8] In attendance was the Governor-General of Jamaica, Sir Clifford Campbell; the Prime Minister, Sir Alexander Bustamante; future Premier Norman Manley as well as two future Prime Ministers, Hugh Shearer and Edward Seaga.[2]
Legacy
[edit]
Several places in Jamaica are named in Ken Jones's honour, including:[2]
- The Ken Jones Aerodrome in St. Margaret’s Bay
- The Ken Jones Highway in St. Thomas
- The Ken Jones Park in Manchioneal
- The Ken Jones Post Office in Haddington, Hanover
In literature
[edit]Ken Jones's mysterious death is portrayed in his brother Evan Jones's novel Stone Haven (1998).[9] In the novel, his character is called John Newton. Another of his novels, Alonso and the Drug Baron (2006), centers around a political assassination of a man who is thrown from his hotel balcony.[10]
A fictionalized Ken Jones, 'Sir Arthur George Jennings', is one of the narrators of Marlon James's novel A Brief History of Seven Killings (2014).[11]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Ken Jones Dies from "Sleep-Walk" Fall". The Daily Gleaner. October 12, 1964. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Roueche, Ken (2010). The Story of Portland: The Other Jamaica. Victoria, B.C.: Ken Roueche Publishing. pp. 91–93. ISBN 9780981076119.
- ^ "Page 25 | Supplement 41589, 30 December 1958 | London Gazette | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-04-23.
- ^ "Page 49 | Supplement 42875, 28 December 1962 | London Gazette | The Gazette". The Gazette. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
- ^ "Caribbean aircrew in the RAF during WW2". Retrieved 3 October 2022.
- ^ "How did Ken Jones Die?". The Daily Gleaner. May 15, 1994.
- ^ "How did Ken Jones Die? Part II: A Very Strange Inquest". The Daily Gleaner. May 22, 1994.
- ^ a b "How did Ken Jones Die? Final in the Series". The Daily Gleaner. June 5, 1994.
- ^ Jones, Evan (1998). Stone haven (Abridged [ed.] ed.). Oxford: Heinemann. ISBN 0435989499.
- ^ Jones, Evan (2006). Alonso and the Drug Baron. Oxford: Macmillan Caribbean. ISBN 978-1-405031-75-2.
- ^ James, Marlon (2014). A brief history of seven killings : a novel (First Riverhead hardcover ed.). New York. ISBN 978-1594633942.
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