John Morris-Jones
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Sir John Morris-Jones (17 October 1864 – 16 April 1929) was a Welsh grammarian, academic and Welsh-language poet.
Family and early life
Morris-Jones was born John Jones, at Trefor in the parish of Llandrygarn, Anglesey the son of Morris Jones first a schoolmaster, then a shopkeeper and his wife Elizabeth. He had a younger brother William Jones. In 1868 the family moved to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll where he received elementary education. In 1876 he entered Friars School, Bangor. In 1879 the headmaster of Friars School, Daniel Lewis Lloyd, was appointed to Christ College, Brecon, and John Jones accompanied him there. In 1883 he attended Jesus College, Oxford, where he graduated with honours in mathematics in 1887.<ref name="DWB">Template:Cite DWB</ref>
Studies in Welsh literature
While at Oxford, Morris-Jones studied Welsh books and manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, and attended lectures by Sir John Rhys (1840–1915), the professor of Celtic.<ref name="DWB"/> Morris-Jones and Rhys prepared an edition of The Elucidarium and other tracts in Welsh from Llyvyr agkyr Llandewivrevi A.D. 1346 (The Book of the Anchorite of Llanddewi Brefi), a collection of Medieval Welsh manuscripts in Jesus College Library, which they published in 1894.<ref name="DWB"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Morris-Jones was one of the original members of Template:Interlanguage link (the Dafydd ap Gwilym Society), which was founded in 1886 and is still a students' society.<ref name="DWB"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Academic career
In 1889 Morris-Jones was appointed as a lecturer in Welsh at the University College of North Wales, Bangor (now Bangor University) where he was promoted to professor in 1895,<ref name="DWB"/> a post he held until his death.
Morris-Jones worked to standardise Welsh orthography.<ref name="DWB"/> His works, Welsh Orthography (1893) and A Welsh Grammar, Historical and Comparative: phonology and accidence (1913),<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> added to the status of the language and thus were well received in Wales. He was also founder and editor of the literary journal, Template:Interlanguage link, published between 1911 and 1919. Morris-Jones was knighted in 1918,<ref>Template:Cite wikisource</ref><ref>Syr John Morris-Jones, in Bedwyr Lewis Jones (ed.) Gwŷr Môn (1979) Cyngor Gwlad Gwynedd. Template:ISBN</ref> after which he used the surname Morris-Jones.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Morris-Jones was a commissioner of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales from 1920.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Pryce2011">Template:Cite book</ref>
Translations
In addition to his own poetry, Morris-Jones published influential translations into Welsh of the German poet Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) and the Persian Omar Khayyam (1048–1131).<ref name="DWB"/>
Marriage and children
In 1897 Morris-Jones married Mary Hughes of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll. They had four daughters. He died in Bangor on 16 April 1929, aged Template:Age.<ref name="DWB"/>
Legacy
The Welsh-speaking hall of residence at Bangor University is named Neuadd John Morris-Jones (John Morris-Jones Hall) in his honour.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
References
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List of publications by Morris-Jones