Bennett Melvill Jones, 28 January 1887 - 31 October 1975

Bennett Melvill Jones was born in Rock Ferry, Birkenhead, on 28 January 1887. His mother, Henrietta Cornelia, whose maiden name was Melvill, came from South Africa. The family, on his father’s side, had deep roots in the Birkenhead area, the father, grandfather and great-grandfather having been born there. The father, Benedict Jones, was a graduate of the University of Cambridge, at St John’s College. He was a barrister by profession, with interests in local government and amateur engineering. He was an Alderman of Birkenhead and served as Mayor. Melvill Jones’s mother had first married George William Bennett, and it was following his death that she married Benedict Jones. There were three children by each of the marriages. Melvill Jones married Dorothy Laxton Jotham on 25 November 1916, and they had three children, Margaret born in 1917, Warren born in 1920, and Geoffrey born in 1923. Warren was killed in action in 1940 while piloting an aeroplane over enemy territory. Lady Jones died in 1955. His father’s interest in amateur engineering had a considerable influence on Melvill Jones. In personal papers he relates how, during his school days, he spent his spare time working with his father, helping him construct such things as a dynamo and a half horse-power gas engine to drive it, and a two-seat motor car which ran successfully for over a thousand miles and cruised at 15 miles per hour. He also relates that he had a great admiration for his headmaster at Birkenhead School, and particularly because he was allowed to give up playing cricket so that he could have more time to work with his father on engineering.