JONES, Robert William
(Service number 23189)
| First Rank | Rifleman | Last Rank | Rifleman |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 18 April 1897 | Place of Birth | Seaforth, (Liverpool), Lancashire, England |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 18 January 1916 | Age | 18 years 9 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Winchester | ||
| Occupation | Blacksmith | ||
| Previous Military Experience | Senior Cadets - 3 years | ||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs Edith JONES (mother), Winchester, Canterbury | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Rifle Brigade | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 4th Reinforcements, 4th Battalion, H Company | ||
| Date | 27 May 1916 | ||
| Transport | Tofua | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Devonport, Devon, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | NZ Rifle Brigade | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Western European | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal; Victory Medal | ||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 2 June 1960 | Age | 63 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Timaru | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Temuka Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Robert William Jones was born on 18 April 1897 at Seaforth (Liverpool), Lancashire, England, the elder son of Robert and Edith (née Stockton) Jones. He was baptised on 6 June 1897 at St Leonard’s, Bootle, Lancashire. Robert and Edith married on 20 October 1894 at St Thomas, Seaforth. In 1901, Robert Williamd and his younger brother Joseph were at home with their parents at West Derby, Lancashire, their father a joiner. Joseph Stockton Jones was born on 1 November 1899 and baptised on 3 January 1900 at St Leonard’s, Bootle. The births of both boys were registered at West Derby. Robert (junior) and Joseph were admitted to Kakahu School on 21 February 1910. Their previous school was Liverpool, England, and Mrs Jones, Hilton was their parent/guardian. It may be that Robert Jones, senior, had died in England.
Robert William Jones was a blacksmith at Winchester, South Canterbury, when he enlisted on 18 January 1916 at Trentham. Single and Methodist, he named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs Edith Jones, Winchester, Canterbury, Timaru. He had served three years with the Senior Cadets. Rifleman R. W. Jones embarked with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 4th Battalion, 4th Reinforcements, leaving for Devonport, England per the “Tofua” on 27 May 1916. Embarking for the return to New Zealand at Plymouth on 8 November 1918 per the “Tofua”, he disembarked at Port Chalmers on 21 December. He was discharged on 4 September 1919, no longer physically fit for War Service on account of wounds received in Action (gunshot wounds to the left arm and left eye), and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. When a welcome home social was tendered to the Hall brothers by the Gapes Valley and Beautiful Valley community on 14 February 1919, R. W. Jones was one of the returned soldiers present.
Robert William Jones married Mina Shannon in 1922. They were to have two sons and two daughters – Raymond Oliver Jones, William Robert Jones, Merle Jones and Daphne Edith Jones. He died on 2 June 1960 at Timaru, aged 63 years. After a service at the Temuka Methodist Church, he was buried in the Temuka Cemetery with Mina who had died in August 1959. His older son, Raymond Oliver Jones, was found killed in action in December 1943 at Cassino, Italy, after being reported missing. His nephew, Joseph Davie Jones, also served in World War Two and his brother Joseph Stockton Jones was called up for service in World War Two. Mrs Edith Jones died on 19 April 1945 and was buried at Geraldine.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [18 September 2025]; England Birth registrations (Free BDM) [19 September 2025]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [19 September 2025]; Geraldine Cemetery headstone images (Timaru District Council) [18 September 2025]; England Baptism records (ancestry.com.au) [19 September 2025]; England 1901 census return (ancestry.com.au) [19 September 2025]; Temuka Leader, 22 February 1919, Timaru Herald, 20 April 1945, Press, 4 June 1960 (Papers Past) [01 & 19 September 2025]
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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