Kenneth Arthur Newton Jones

A roadside monument to Ken Jones

The Honourable Kenneth Arthur Newton Jones JP
Born	1 September 1924
Died	11 October 1964 (aged 40)
Other names	Ken Jones
Known for	Former Minister of Communications and Works of Jamaica (1962–1964)
Spouse	Marlene d'Auvergne Holtz
Children	Gladys Rebecca Jones
Parents	Frederick McDonald Jones (father) Gladys Jones (née Smith) (mother)

The Hon. Kenneth Arthur Newton Jones JP (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

Early life and military service

Ken Jones and his twin brother Keith Frederick Newton Jones were born on 1 September 1924 in Portland, Jamaica. Their father, the Hon. Frederick McDonald Jones JP OBE, was a planter and a prominent member of the local Anglican Church.[1] Their mother, Gladys Jones JP MBE (née Smith), was a Quaker Missionary. She was a graduate of William Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa, and she arrived at Happy Grove School in Portland in 1918 for her mission. Gladys Jones played an important role in the school, including helping to initiate the transformation of the school into an academic high school. In 1959, she was awarded MBE by Elizebeth II. Ken Jones was the elder brother of Evan Jones, the influential Jamaican writer.

Jones attended Munro College, a boarding school for boys in St Elizabeth, Jamaica, 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.[2] During the Second World War, an estimated 400 Jamaicans served as air crew in the RAF, of which Jones was one.[3]

Political Career

In 1946, Ken Jones returned to Jamaica. He first worked in the business, and in 1951, he was elected to the Portland Parochial Board, which marked the beginning of his career in public service. In 1953, he served as a Justice of the Peace. In 1955, he was elected to the House of Representatives as the member for Eastern Portland. 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.[4]

Marriage

In 1958, Ken Jones was married to Marlene d'Auvergne Holtz of Kingston. Gladys Rebecca Jones, their daughter, was born in 1960.[5]

Death

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]

However, the true cause of Ken Jones's death is mysterious and controversial. Many believe he might have been a victim of political assassination. In 1994, The Gleaner published a series of articles questioning the legitimacy of the inquest and other suspicious circumstances of his death.[6][7][8]

Legacy

Several places in Jamaica are named in Ken Jones's honour, including:

• 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[4]

In Popular Culture

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

1. "Ken Jones Dies from "Sleep-Walk" Fall". The Daily Gleaner. October 12, 1964. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
2. "Caribbean aircrew in the RAF during WW2". Retrieved 3 October 2022.
3. Roueche, Ken (2010). Portland : the other Jamaica : tales of dreamers, schemers and crusaders. [Victoria, BC: K. Roueche]. pp. 91–92. ISBN 978-0981076119.
4. Roueche, Ken (2010). Portland : the other Jamaica : tales of dreamers, schemers and crusaders. [Victoria, BC: K. Roueche]. p. 93. ISBN 978-0981076119.
5. Roueche, Ken (2010). Portland : the other Jamaica : tales of dreamers, schemers and crusaders. [Victoria, BC: K. Roueche]. p. 92. ISBN 978-0981076119.
6. "How did Ken Jones Die?". The Daily Gleaner. May 15, 1994.
7. "How did Ken Jones Die? Part II: A Very Strange Inquest". The Daily Gleaner. May 22, 1994.
8. "How did Ken Jones Die? Final in the Series". The Daily Gleaner. June 5, 1994.
9. Jones, Evan (1998). Stone haven (Abridged [ed.] ed.). Oxford: Heinemann. ISBN 0435989499.
10. Jones, Evan (2006). Alonso and the Drug Baron. Oxford: Macmillan Caribbean. ISBN 978-1-405031-75-2.
11. James, Marlon (2014). A brief history of seven killings : a novel (First Riverhead hardcover ed.). New York. ISBN 978-1594633942.