[3] His education took place at the dissenting academy in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, run by Roger Griffiths, who shortly afterwards conformed to the Church of England.
After finishing his education at Leiden, Jones moved to Gloucester, opening his dissenting academy in the Presbyterian Henry Wintle's house in Barton Street.
[7] Persecution of the Academy continued, however; following the Henry Sacheverell affair and the attempted passing of Schism bills in parliament, Jones's house was attacked by rioters on 20 October 1714, the day of the coronation of George I.
[8] This local hostility reflects the merger of popular politics and anti-academy state propaganda during Queen Anne's rule.
Andrew Kippis, minister of Newington Green Unitarian Church, wrote in his biography of Joseph Butler in the Biographia Britannica that Jones was 'a man of uncommon abilities' and 'erudition', with a 'high and deserved reputation.'
'[12] Thomas Secker, who lived with Jones as one of his students, wrote to Isaac Watts, who had encouraged him to study there, that his teacher was "a man of real piety, great learning, and an agreeable temper; one who is very diligent in instructing all under his care, very well qualified to give instructions, and whose well-managed familiarity will always make him respected.
[13] Although Jones published nothing, his manuscript systems of learning influenced the next generation of dissenting academics, including the tutor Philip Doddridge of Northampton.