Abel John JonesOBE (26 May 1878 – 8 May 1949), was aWelsh writer.[1]
Jones was born inRhymney,Bedwellty,Monmouthshire. His parents, David Rees Jones and Hannah Jones (née Evans) and his sister Annie and brothers Rees and David Rees spoke onlyWelsh whereas Abel spoke Welsh andEnglish (and later German) fluently. He originally left school at the age of fourteen to work in a shop: after fifteen months he became apupil-teacher for five years.[2]
He was involved withGuglielmo Marconi's first wireless signal transmission over water on 13 May 1897 fromLavernock Point toFlatholm Island in south Wales.
Abel studied at theUniversity College of Wales, Aberystwyth from 1898–1901, and was awarded a BSc.
He taught science and mathematics and was Senior Master atNarberth County Intermediate School,Pembrokeshire, from February 1904 to July 1905 under the headmastership of John Morgan MA.
From 1905 to 1906 he studied at the GermanUniversity of Jena under the philosopherRudolf Christoph Eucken and was awarded a PhD. From 1906 Abel was Scholar ofClare College, Cambridge reading for the Moral Sciences Tripos (BA 1908, MA 1912).
After leaving Cambridge, Abel taught in elementary and secondary schools (including Bootham School,York) and lectured in Philosophy at Clare College before his appointment as an assistant lecturer in the Education Department of theUniversity College, Cardiff.
He became the youngest person to be appointed one of His Majesty's Inspector of Schools in Wales (1910–1938). During the years 1914–1918, he was Secretary forWar Savings inGlamorgan for which he was later awarded anOBE.
He had at least nine books published, the first of which concerned Rudolf Euken (1912) (see above). In 1938 he invented a much improved version ofshorthand which proved very popular, "Abbrevia Shortwriting," and in 1939 wrote a biography of "John Morgan MA - A Man Elect of Men" (also see above).
Two auto-biographical books appeared in 1943 and 1944; "I Was Privileged" and "From an Inspector's Bag" and a further two books with a more philosophical outlook were published in 1944 and 1945 "In Search of Truth" and "For a Human Advance".
He died inPorthcawl, south Wales.
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