Fonds WJ - Papers of Sir William Jones and Lady Anna Maria (Shipley) Jones

Identity area

Reference code

GB 891 WJ

Title

Papers of Sir William Jones and Lady Anna Maria (Shipley) Jones

Date(s)

  • 1784-1831 (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

0.017 cubic metres

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Lady Anna Maria Jones was born on 5th December, 1748, the second child of Anna Maria Mordaunt and Jonathan Shipley, Dean of Winchester and later bishop of St. Asaph. Her father taught Anna both classical and modern languages. She married William, aged 35,read more

Name of creator

Biographical history

Sir Joseph Banks was born on 15th February 1743 in London into a wealthy land-owning family. He was educated at Harrow School and Eton College, where he became interested in botany. Between 1760 and 1763, Banks studied at Christ Church, Oxford,read more

Name of creator

Biographical history

Samuel Davis was born in the West Indies where his father was Commissary General. After his father died he returned to England with his mother and siblings. He became an East India cadet in 1778, and sailed for India aboard the Earl of Oxford, arrivingread more

Name of creator

Biographical history

John Shore, Lord Teignmouth was born in St James Street, Piccadilly, on 5th October 1751 but was brought up in Romford. In 1769 he went to work in Bengal where he was one of the first to learn some of the languages. In January 1785 Shore returned toread more

Name of creator

Biographical history

Sir William Jones, was born on 28th September 1746, in London, the third child of William Jones, F.R.S., an able mathematician. His father died in 1749 and he was raised by his mother Maria Jones (née Nix). Jones attended Harrow School from 1753 where heread more

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

It is not known how the majority of the art archive material came to be part of the Royal Asiatic Society Collections. Presumably it was deposited at the same time as the paintings and drawings within the collections. It has been suggested that theseread more

Content and structure area

Scope and content

The archive consists of correspondence from William Jones to Samuel Davis, some correspondence from Joseph Banks and Lord Teignmouth with and regarding Lady Jones, various botanical sketches and notes and a Sale Catalogue for the books of William Jones' lLbrary.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

All records have been retained. The individual records had been given numbers as part of the accessioning procedures, to reflect the arrangement of the archive.

System of arrangement

The collection has been arranged according to its different components, creating four different series. Thus:

  • WJ/1 - Correspondence of Sir William Jones
  • WJ/2 - Correspondence with Anna Maria Jones
  • WJ/3 - Sketches and notes of William Jones and Anna
  • read more

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open. Please contact the archivist using the email address given here. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email.read more

Conditions governing reproduction

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.

Language of material

  • English

Allied materials area

Related units of description

The Jones Collection contains a number of paintings and drawings which are described in the "Catalogue of Paintings, Drawings, Engravings and Busts: The Collection of the Royal Asiatic Society" by Raymond Head, 1991, in which he divides the material into:read more

Access points

Subject access points

Description control area

Description identifier

gb891-wj

Archivist's note

The descriptions were created by Nancy Charley, Archivist at the Royal Asiatic Society, in 2015. The original order of the material was unknown and therefore it was arranged according to the different types of material of which the collection is comprised

Archivist's note

Autobiographical information was sourced from

  • Arberry, A.J. Asiatic Jones: The Life and Influence of Sir William Jones (174601794), Pioneer of Indian Studies, Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd, 1946.
  • Feldman, Paula R., British Women Poets of the Romantic Era:
  • read more