Gareth Jones (Q58865)

Gareth Vaughan Jones (1905-1935), journalist, was born in Barry, Glamorgan, on 13 August 1905, the son of Major Edgar and Gwen Jones. He was educated at Barry County School, the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and Trinity College, Cambridge, gaining first class honours in Modern Languages. He then became private secretary and researcher to David Lloyd George, 1930-1931 and 1932-1933 and also spent a year in New York, 1931-1932, as a foreign advisor to Ivy Lee and Associates. In 1933 he joined the editorial staff of the Western Mail, and visited Russia, writing a series of articles exposing conditions in the Ukraine, notably the terrible famine there (the 'Holodomor'). He embarked on a 'round-the-world-tour' in 1934, but was murdered by 'bandits' in inner Mongolia on 12 August 1935. In Search of News: a selection of articles from the Western Mail (2nd edition, Cardiff, 1938) was published posthumously. Gareth Vaughan Jones's father, Dr Edgar William Jones (1868-1953), was the headmaster of Barry County School, 1899-1934. He subsequently became Adviser on Welsh Matters to the BBC, and made broadcasts on BBC radio. He was given the Freedom of the Borough of Barry in 1950.