[8] The family traced their ancestry to Bryan Jones (died 1681), a Welshman who had been granted lands in Ireland by King James VI and I in 1622.
A plot was discovered amongst Catholic crewmen, who had taken an oath to seize control of the ship and take her to Brest under a green ensign with a harp on it, killing all the officers except the captain.
[9] Twenty-five men were court-martialled aboard HMS Gladiator in a hearing which began on 9 September under Captain Holloway.
Nineteen were sentenced to death by hanging aboard a ship, though eight were recommended for mercy, to be transported for life.
At 9am on board HMS St George off Spithead, seven men were (in the words of The Morning Post and Gazetter) "launched into eternity".
[14] All but one of the condemned men maintained their innocence to the end,[14][15] and The Observer newspaper reported that "every means was adopted to make the execution on Thursday as awful and impressive as possible".