Ernest Charles Jones
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ernest Charles Jones (January 25, 1819 – January 26, 1869), poet, novelist, and Chartist.
Born in Berlin, he was the son of Major J., equerry to the Duke of Cumberland, afterwards King of Hanover. He adopted the views of the Chartists in an extreme form, and was imprisoned for two years for seditious speeches, and on his release conducted a Chartist newspaper: the "Notes to The People" (1850 - 1852). He became a leading figure in the "National Charter Association" in the phase of its decline, and helped to give the Chartist movement a clearer socialist direction. He knew Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels personally. Marx and Engels at the same time commented on the Chartist movement and Jones' work in their letters and articles.
Afterwards, when the agitation had died down, he returned to his practice as a barrister, which he had deserted, and also wrote largely. He produced a number of novels, including The Maid of Warsaw, Woman's Wrongs, and The Painter of Florence, also some poems, The Battle Day (1855), The Revolt of Hindostan (1857), and Corayda (1859). Some of his lyrics, such as The Song of the Poor, The Song of the Day Labourers, and The Factory Slave, were well known.
This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.
[edit] Further reading
- Miles Taylor: "Ernest Jones, Chartism and the Romance of Politics, 1819 - 1869", Oxford University Press 2003.
