Humphrey Owen Jones, F. R. S. (1878-1912) chemist and mountaineer

Abstract

Between February and August 1912, Humphrey Owen Jones, Fellow of Clare College and Jacksonian Demonstrator in Chemistry at Cambridge, received public recognition of his scientific work and great happiness in his private life. He was 34 years of age and in February 1912 was elected as the youngest F.R.S. of the time. At the end of July he was appointed to the Royal Commission on the use of oil-fuel by the Navy. On 1 August he was married in Bangor Cathedral to Muriel Gwendolen Edwards, Fellow of the University of Wales, who had done research with him. She was 26 years of age. In the middle of August, Dr and Mrs H. O. Jones were on their honeymoon in the Alps. Jones was an experienced mountaineer and his wife was also keen on climbing. On 15 August 1912 they set out with a guide (J. Truffer) to climb the Mont Rouge de Peuteret, a minor peak (2941 m.) on the south side of Mont Blanc. In an exposed position, the guide slipped, Jones was unable to arrest him with the rope, and all three fell to their deaths on the Fresnay Glacier, 300 m. below. Their grave is in Courmayeur. The tragedy was referred to briefly by Sir Archibald Geikie, P.R.S., in his Anniversary Address on 30 November 1912, but no extended obituary notice appeared under the auspices of the Royal Society. There were obituary notices in several journals and it was probably felt that these were sufficient, particularly since Jones had been an F.R.S. for only about six months. The centenary of his birth seems an appropriate occasion to remedy this omission, and to examine some of his contributions to chemistry, so prematurely terminated sixty-six years ago.