Isaac Jones and Mary Pidding of Mildenhall, Wiltshire, England

So far as I have been able to ascertain, the first
attention given to our ancestors seems to have been
in 1859. John Pidding Jones, residing in Cedar,
wrote to his 10-year older brother, Thomas Samuel
Jones in Preston, Lancashire Co., England, requesting
that he send him a copy of the family record of
all the family of their father and mother, Isaac
Jones and Mary Pidding, his wife. John Pidding,
being the 12th child of the family, next to the
youngest, remembered very little of his mother,
being only 7 years of age when she died. He knew
very little of his older brothers and sisters, much
less the family records.
When the letter arrived in Preston, Thomas
Samuel, a mechanical engineer, had already been
sent to Austria to introduce and install the first
stationary steam engines in that country. His second
and youngest son, Isaac - 20 years of age, an
excellent penman - answered the letter, giving a
very fine and complete family group record of
Isaac and Mary and 13 children, including names,
birth dates and places of birth - but that was all. (I
am having a copy of the letter made for the family
book.)
This then, was all John Pidding Jones knew of
his father’s family. He knew little of his grandparents
and nothing at all of his great-grandparents.
He undoubtedly corresponded with some other
members of the family and gained little from them,
if anything.
A careful search of the records, both church
and civic, reveal very little of the childhood, youth
and teen-age of Isaac. His family was on the poorhouse
rolls of the church in Marlborough and Mildenhall
during the period from about 1785 to
1795. It is assumed that William, the father, must
have been incapacitated for some reason or other,
thereby being unable to fully support his family.
The vicar’s receipt records show the names of the
boys, Isaac, Thomas, and Samuel coming every few
days for food, etc. Isaac’s name did now show near
as much as the other boys. The next we hear of
Isaac was on the account of his wedding, 22 Feb
1793, to Mary Pidding in Wiltshire Co., England.
When you realize that Isaac’s first three children
were born in different countries - the first in
France, the second in Prussia, the third in England
- and the next three also in England, each in a
different county, the seventh in Scotland, the
eighth in Ireland, the next three in Lancashire,
England, and the last three in Yorkshire, England,
the question is just where is the old homestead?
Where was Home?
Very shortly after his marriage to Mary Pidding,
he joined the English army. From then on,
during the rest of his life, he left a record showing
daily entries of his activities for the country he
served and his posterity. His activities indicated a
steady climb up the ladder of adventure until he
became captain of the fighting state militia of Manchester,
England and Cork, Ireland. His loyalty to
the armed forces was admirable, but his loyalty,
devotion and love for his wife and their 13 children,
and his second wife and her four small children,
was godlike.
During the two decades he served in the army,
he became very closely associated with his superior
officer, Sylvester Frazer, who was of higher rank
by several steps. As he advanced in rank, Isaac likewise
advanced, and it was to the credit of this good
man and officer that he wrote the letter to the king
recommending Isaac for promotion out of the
army to that of captain in the state militia of Manchester.
Thereafter he served for some years over
the militias of Manchester, England and Cork, Ireland.
In 1798, Aaron, youngest brother of Isaac,
joined the army; a different regiment than Isaac.
While both men were in Spain and Portugal in the
war with Spain, Aaron was killed in battle. Isaac
was saddened and depressed by the death of his
brother Aaron. Discouraged with army life, Isaac
confided to his friend and superior officer, Captain
Frazer, his desires to leave the service. Immediately,
Captain Frazer awakened to the idea of keeping
this good man in the service. In consultation, Frazer,
with his own superior officer, decided upon a
promotion in rank for Isaac by promoting him out
of the army as lieutenant and into the militia as
captain.
In 1817, Isaac, while still captain of the state
militia of Manchester, settled in a new home built
for him and his family on the banks of the Leeds-
Liverpool Canal at Greenberfield, Barnoldswick,
Yorkshire Co., England. Isaac had been appointed
canalmaster of the new canal (longest in England -
200 miles long). He was located at the highest
point on the canal with the responsibility of keeping
a constant level of water at all times. The locks
he attended had a 90-foot drop. Later the drop was
changed to three 30-foot locks.
It was here in Greenberfield that the last three
children were born: Joseph, John Pidding, and William
Henry. Six years later, in 1827, Mary, wife of
Isaac, died; John Pidding was only seven years old,
and there were six children under 21 years of age,
at the time, at home. A year later Isaac married a
young widow, Ann Beanland, mother of four small
girls. This young widow outlived Isaac by about 16
years - he died in 1854. Ann was then mother to
John Pidding for about 14 years - John remembered
little of his own mother.
I’m proud to give this brief account of Isaac
Jones, for I believe him to be our outstanding ancestor.
He advanced to the top as a boy, teenager,
husband, and father; as a soldier, adjutant, captain
and canalmaster, and outstanding citizen. To be
admitted as a young man into the services of “The
Mounted Royal Dragoon of His Majesty the King”
- the “elite” regiment of all the Armed Services of
England - and then to go to the top in that kind
of competition shows the caliber and stamina of
this man. Thus he was promoted out of this regiment,
23 Oct 1807, rather than mustered out. He
spent his entire married life, 1793 to 1854, in the
service of his country as soldier, captain, mister,
and master.
At the death of his esteemed wife, Mary Pidding
Jones, Isaac erected a lovely large tombstone
in the churchyard of Gill Church. The epitaph
read: “In memory of Mary, his wife, who departed
this life April 8, 1827, in her 53rd year of her age.
She was a good mother and a virtuous wife,
A faithful friend all the days of her life.
For her last tribute paid to me,
I erect this tomb to cover she.”
After he died, the following epitaph was put on the
tombstone also:
“The remains of Mr. Isaac Jones.
Late captain in the army, who departed
this life, the 11th day of June 1854
in the 84th year of his age.”
The boys, Joseph and John Pidding, carried
much of the responsibility of tending the locks and
caring for the three large draft horses used in pulling
the boats. A change of horses was made here at
these locks - one horse to a boat - as well as
operating the large pump which was used to pump
water from the large lake some three or four miles
away, to keep necessary water in the canal. Fees
were collected from every boat passing through,
making bookkeeping a daily chore.
John Pidding, however, left home at about 13
years of age to work for his older brother, Sylvester
Frazer Jones, where he could learn the trade of
iron moulder. He served a seven-year apprenticeship
in the capacity of iron moulder. Having
learned a trade proved a blessing to him as he came
to America, settling in Cedar City, Iron County,
Utah.
William Jones, father of Isaac Jones, became a
widower in the second or third year of his married
life. He then married a young widow, Jane Shipway,
19 June 1762 at Marlborough, Wiltshire
County, England. They became the parents of six
sons and one daughter, Isaac being the fifth child
and fourth son.
In research on the father, William, we find that
for some reason or other he was unable to provide
for his family. They therefore were upon the poor
rolls for years. Receipts issued by the week and
month by the vicar gives names of the different
sons receiving and signing for food, clothing, etc.,
for the family. The vicar referred to them as the
Jones boys.
This condition of poverty undoubtedly had a
bearing on Isaac and Aaron, his younger brother,
joining the army. As at this particular time a great
financial depression held England in its grip. There
was very little employment. The burial record of
William, the father, lists him as a pauper. Yet from
the loins of this good couple came seven children -
and only one daughter and one son died as children.
Aaron enlisted 15 Nov 1798 and was killed in
battle at Lisbon, Portugal, 8 Nov 1809, holding the
rank of sergeant. This left four sons who all married;
three of whom stayed in Mildenhall, from
which a great posterity came forth, and from the
fourth, Isaac, came a multitude of thousands and
the line through which the Gospel came to us.
Praise be to His name and thanks to God for a
John Pidding who heard and received the Gospel in
his heart. William Jones was a noble man and great
father in spite of his affliction, which incapacitated
him. You will note that Isaac was born in Mildenhall,
Wiltshire County, as was his father, William.
Isaac left Mildenhall to join the army, never to
return again to live there. When Isaac left the army
it was to reside in Lancashire County, 200 miles to
the north of Wiltshire County. Our line of research
divides at this time, everything before Isaac’s time
back to about 1550 was in Wiltshire, and then
from 1550 back to about 1050 the family lived in
Wales.

John Pidding Jones family, emigrated to the United States of America	William Henry Jones family, and Samuel Frazer Jones family
Frederick Isaac Jones (b. 1801) family	Joseph Jones and Jane Thorton family, emigrated to the United States of America
New information about William (The Younger) Jones of the Woodlands, Mildenhall, Wiltshire	NEW !!! Thomas Samuel Jones, b 21 Apr 1809 was the son of Isaac and Mary Pidding Jones. Eliza Jones, the daughter of Thomas Samuel was born 19 Oct 1848, Blackburn, , Lancashire, England. Her descendants emigrated to Australia.
Isaac Jones was brother to Samuel Jones and Rachel Edwards. One branch of this family emigrated New Zealand	New April 25, 2009 Biography of John Lee Jones, son of John Pidding Jones, son of Isaac Jones and Mary Pidding
	*Isaac Jones b. 1839 was a son of Thomas Samuel Jones and married to Selina Crossley, daughter of James and Martha.*