John Jones Maesygarnedd
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Colonel John Jones (c. 1597-October 17, 1660), was a Welsh military leader, politician and one of the regicides of King Charles I. A brother-in-law of Oliver Cromwell, Jones was from North Wales and is often surnamed Jones Maesygarnedd after the location of his Merionethshire estate. Jones spoke Welsh with his family. He was an avid Republican at a time when most of Wales was Royalist, and for this reason he was described by one of his contemporaries as 'the most hated man in North Wales'.
During the Civil War, Jones rose from Captain of the Foot, under Sir Thomas Myddelton, to Colonel of a cavalry regiment. In 1647, he was involved in the Royalist surrenders of Anglesey and Harlech and, later, in suppressing the insurgency in North Wales. He was elected MP for Merioneth in 1647 and given a military commission in Ireland (see Wars of the Three Kingdoms). However, as a committed republican, he was opposed Cromwell's Protectorate and lost this commission as a result. Despite this, he made up with the Protector, and married Cromwell's widowed sister, Catherine.
Jones was appointed Commissioner of the High Court of Justice in 1649, as a member of which he became one of the fifty-nine signatories to King Charles I's death warrant. Like many of the others who signed, he was in grave danger when Charles II of England was restored to the throne. He was arrested, put on trial, and found guilty of regicide. On October 17, 1660, Jones was hanged, drawn and quartered a fate which, according to some accounts, he faced with immense bravery.
