Hedley H. G. Jones OD (12 November 1917[1] – 1 September 2017)[2] was a Jamaican musician, audio engineer, inventor, trade unionist and writer.
[3] In 1935 he moved to Kingston, where he heard Marcus Garvey speak, and worked as a tailor, cabinet maker, bus conductor, repairing sewing machines, radios and gramophones.
Jones built powerful amplifiers, with the technologically advanced capacity to distinguish and enhance treble, mid-range, and bass frequencies.
[3] He later wrote:[8]"The public address system prior to World War II was designed to electronically respond to a limited range of audio frequencies, covering voice and general purposes.
[9] With his cousin Stephen, Jones also built and demonstrated Jamaica's first traffic lights in 1952, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Charlie.
[1] He also achieved eminence as an astronomer, grinding his own lenses and building several telescopes, and received a Certificate of Merit from the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission in 1987 for his work in astronomy.
[7] He also began writing a regular column for the Montego Bay newspaper, The Western Mirror, which he still continued in 2012, as Jamaica's oldest columnist.