John Emlyn Emlyn-Jones

John Emlyn Emlyn-Jones (22 January 1889 -3 March 1952) was a Welsh Liberal politician and shipowner.

Education and shipping

Emlyn-Jones had a private education in Cardiff, France, Spain and Italy"Who was Who", OUP 2007] before making his reputation in the shipping industry. In 1911 he went into partnership with E. Williams as shipowners. In 1915 he started on his own with a fleet of small coasting steamers using the experience he had gained while working in a shipping office in Bordeaux. In 1920 he founded the Dragon Steam Ship Company to operate deep sea tramping routes [ [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/Mariners/2003-06/1055851314 RootsWeb: Mariners-L Re: [Mar Emlyn Line, Cardiff ] ] . The affairs of his own enterprises took him all over the world on business and he was also a director of the Green Star Shipping Co, the Ocean Salvage and Towage Co and one time Chairman of the Cardiff Pilotage AuthorityThe Times, 4.3.52 – p.8] .

In addition, Emlyn-Jones was one time President of Cardiff Chamber of Commerce and was elected Chairman of the Cardiff and Bristol Channel Shipowners’ Association in 1931 [The Shipbroker, Inst. Of Chartered Shipbrokers, 1931 p.94] .

Politics

Emlyn-Jones held many offices in the Liberal Party including being Chairman of the Liberal Federation of Wales and President of the North Dorset Liberal Association.

At the 1922 general election, Emlyn-Jones was elected to Parliament for the constituency of Dorset North and he retained the seat in 1923. In a predominantly rural constituency, one of Emlyn-Jones’ concerns was to represent the interests of agricultural workers. During the first Labour government, Emlyn-Jones pointed out how Labour, supported by the Conservative opposition, was not standing up robustly enough for agricultural labourers by refusing to incorporate this group into a Minimum Wages Bill, which he attempted unsuccessfully to amend. However in the 1924 general election it was the Conservatives under Stanley Baldwin, who were mostly credibly able to make a national appeal to farm workers as the champions of rural England ["The Liberal Party in South West Britain since 1918" by Garry Tregidga, University of Exeter Press, 2000 p38] and Emlyn-Jones lost his seat to Conservative candidate, Cecil Hanbury.

Out of Parliament

Emlyn-Jones did not seek reselection for the Liberals at the 1929 general election. Instead he was adopted as candidate for Cardiff East being well-known as a business man at the docks and as a resident of the constituency. He was reported as being a capable speaker and enthusiastic for the Liberal unemployment scheme [The Times, 22.5.29] which formed a central policy theme of the Liberal election campaign. In 1928 the party had produced a book entitled "We Can Conquer Unemployment" and promoted the policy vigorously even claiming that ‘within twelve months [of a Liberal government taking office] unemployment would be brought down to normal proportions’ [Roy Douglas, "The History of the Liberal Party 1895-1970"; Sidgwick & Jackson, 1971 p. 201] .

Emlyn-Jones fought Cardiff East again in 1931, stating he was both a supporter of the National Government and a follower of Sir Herbert Samuel. He accepted Ramsay Macdonald’s manifesto in its entirety, stating that there must be national unity at a time of national emergency. He indicated he was willing to stand aside to avoid splitting the National vote, if the local Liberal and Conservative Associations decided jointly not to adopt him as the National candidate [The Times, 12.10.31] . But the Conservatives had already adopted South Wales barrister O Temple Morris [The Times, 13.10.31] and no accommodation between the parties can have been forthcoming as both Emlyn-Jones and Temple Morris contested the election with Temple Morris emerging the victor. Emlyn-Jones did not stand again in 1935, which was probably just as well as the Liberal candidate, A Pile, lost his deposit [The Times, 16.11.35] . However he was persuaded to contest the seat again at the 1945 general election, when he came third [ [http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge45/i05.htm Not updated: UK General Election results: July 1945 ] ] . Emlyn –Jones also served as a Justice of the Peace in Cardiff.

Like father like son

Emlyn-Jones was married and had one son, John Alvn Emlyn-Jones (b. 1923) who was also a Liberal. He fought the seat of Barry just outside Cardiff in the 1950 general election ["Who’s Who of 475 Liberal Candidates Fighting the 1950 General Election"; Liberal Publications Dept. 1950] . He also stood as Liberal candidate in the by-election at his father’s old seat of Dorset North in 1957 in a closer contest, coming second to the Tory, losing by 3,102 votes [ [http://www.geocities.com/by_elections/57.html#dorset 1957 By Elections ] ] .

Death

Emlyn-Jones and his wife were victims of an air crash. They had boarded the Air France flight bound for Paris from Nice but the plane got into trouble soon after take-off and tried to return to the airfield. It crashed into trees on hills outside Nice and burst into flames, killing 38 passengers and crew members [The Times, 4 March 1952 (p.6)] .

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