Joseph Henry Jones was born in Flint in 1882 and was the eldest of six children to Watkin Rees Jones and Mary (Williams).
Watkin was born in Llangollen and Mary in Flint and were married at the Holy Trinity Parish Church, Chester on 24th March, 1881. They first lived in Mount Street, Flint before settling in 78, Feathers Street. Watkin had been a chemical labour, coal miner and finally an insurance agent.
Watkin died at his residence on 19th November, 1908, aged 54, and was buried in the Northop Road Cemetery.
Obituary: Mr Jones was highly respected in Flint, having come to live in the borough 33 years ago. He was a deacon of the Zion Welsh Congregational Church, and a local preacher for over 25 years, and was also a conductor of singing as well as organist for many years. He was a staunch nonconformist and radical, having been a faithful member of the Liberal Club for years. Messrs David Jones, Chester, and John Williams, Flint, also testified to the excellent qualities of the deceased and the great loss the town and the connexion had sustained by his death.
According to a relative he was a very strict man and on the day of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 he made his children go potato picking instead of enjoying the celebrations.
Sometime in the early 1900s Joseph Henry moved to London and became employed in the grocery business. The 1911 census found him lodging in the home of a Mr and Mrs George Madden at 6, Portobello Road, Bayswater.
He married London born Charlotte (Lottie) E Gould in Middlesex in 1912 and in 1913 they had a son named Samuel Rees.
Joseph enlisted in Hammersmith, Middlesex and died on 7th July, 1917 in Palestine, from the effects of malaria while a prisoner of war for some months. He was buried in Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery, Iraq (Plot XXI, Row D, Grave 35).
He was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal and was remembered on the war memorial at the Seion Chapel, Hill Street, Flint, which was demolished in the 1960s.
Joseph’s mother, Mary, died on 31st December, 1929 at her residence, 78, Feathers Street, and was buried with her husband.
Obituary: Mrs Jones was in her 70th year, and had been ailing for some time. She was a native of Flint, and was the daughter of the late Mr Williams (Tailor) of Mount Street. She was a member of the Zion Welsh Congregational Church.
Samuel Rees was blind and a professional masseur in Harley Street, London with many famous clientele including Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, film stars and ballet dancers. He lived in Kensington with his wife Kay. After his wife died in 1997 Sam spent his remaining years at a nursing home in Devon until his death in 2007.
Joseph’s brother, Tom Rees Jones Snr, of 10, Halkyn Street, wrote a booklet entitled “Memories of Flint” in 1957.