The Bradshaw Family history archives contain a letter dated 9 January 1925 from "Jack" notifying Aunt Em of his father's death. It is addressed to Mrs Bradshaw at The Hawthorns, Stoke Park and asks her to pass on the news to Aunt Ann.

There was no indication of who Jack was, his surname or why someone was writing from the Royal Mews in Windsor. The first real clue came while researching Emily Trevor (1870-1954) who was the recipient of the letter.

John Jones was mentioned in the Will of Emily (Trevor) Bradshaw dated 26 May 1963. She referred to him as her "Adopted Brother" and made a bequest of One hundred pounds to his Widow, Annie Jones and to each of their two children Eileen Westcott and John Jones.

With this information as a start the pieces started to fall into place. John Jones first appears on the 1881 Census age 10 as a boarder in the household of William and Hannah Trevor living at The Mill Cottages, Sutton, Market Drayton. Emily Trevor (1870-1954), their daughter - "Aunt Em" in the letter, appears on the same Census age 11; she married William Bradshaw (1872-1953), eldest son of Richard Bradshaw (1847-1922). She had a brother John Trevor (1873-1937) and a half sister Ann Tacey (1865-1930) - "Aunt Ann" in the letter. On the 1891 Census John Jones is a Blacksmith, a boarder in the household of William Teague near Ludlow. Shortly after this in 1894 he enlisted in the Army as a Shoesmith (Blacksmith) and served around 20 years in numerous locations, including India and South Africa where he was at the relief of Mafeking. He re-enlisted in April 1915 early in WW1 and served in France. He died at Sandringham on 9 Jan 1925. It is not known why he was at Sandringham or the cause of death. His normal address on Census and Military records was at Royal Mews, Windsor.

He married Annie Jones in 1902 and had two children - Thomas Jack who wrote the above letter, born 1904 in India and Eileen Louise born 1910 in Ireland.

No Birth Cert or Death Cert has been located. Census records indicate he was born in Marchamley. His Death Records are probably in the military archives. I have been unable to come up with any clues as to his connection to the Bradshaw/Trevor families; presumably one or both of his parents had died or possibly he was an illegitimate child. His Marriage Certificate to Annie Jones in 1901 states his father was Thomas Jones (deceased), a Joiner, but no death records have been identified for such a person locally.