Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1942-1995 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
0.429 cubic metres (15 boxes)
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Erastus Jones was a minister and an ecumenist who worked with the Council of Churches for Wales and the Welsh Ecumenical Society. He moved in 1967 to Aberfan to help in the aftermath of the 1966 disaster.
He was born in 1918 in Liverpool, where he also attended the University to study Social Sciences. During the Second World War he was a conscientious objector and stayed in Liverpool, during which time he decided to enter the ministry. He then went to Bangor College to study divinity. His first post was at Crewe after which in 1948 he went to Blaendulais. He stayed in Blaendulais until the churches of Merthyr called him in 1966 to represent them in Aberfan following the coal tip disaster. His work was to serve the community as it tried to heal itself, while also using the lessons learned in Aberfan to challenge the rest of the South Wales valleys.
He served as a member, secretary and treasurer of many committees and was a member of the Student Christian Movement, the New Campaign in Wales, the Welsh Ecumenical Movement, and the Council of Churches for Wales. In 1947 he visited the Ecumenical Institute in Bosey and attended the international ecumenical conferences of Amsterdam in 1948 and Uppsala in 1968. While in Blaendulais he set up the Blaendulais Ecumenical Centre and Ecumene (the Ecumenical youth movement) under the auspices of the Welsh Ecumenical Movement, and later in Aberfan he worked as a representative of the community through Tŷ Toronto: both establishments were important to the Ecumenical movement in Wales. Following the Aberfan disaster the 'Call to the Valleys' was sent out by Tŷ Toronto with the aim of uniting and regenerating them.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Donated by the Rev. Erastus Jones, Porthmadog, December 2000.; A2000/98
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers of the Reverend Erastus Jones relating to his contribution to the Ecumenical Movement in Wales, including papers of such movements as the Welsh Ecumenical Society, the Council of Churches for Wales and the New Advance in Wales, including correspondence, minutes, some accounts and other papers; papers relating to his work and ministry in Blaendulais, 1948-1967, and his work within the community of Aberfan after the disaster of 1966, including minutes of various committees, correspondence, publications, accounts and papers relating to the Blaendulais Ecumenical Centre and Tŷ Toronto; papers relating to the Ecumenical Movement in Wales in general and relating to contacts in Europe.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Action: The fonds has been appraised (see appraisal form HW/2005-06/2). Details are given at the appropriate level(s) of description..
Accruals
Accruals are not expected
System of arrangement
Arranged into seven series by Erastus Jones before it came to NLW as follows: The New Campaign in Wales, Blaendulais, The Welsh Ecumenical Society, The Council of Churches for Wales, Church Unity, Toronto House, Aberfan and the Valleys. The original order has been retained in the first six series; for the seventh series see the appropriate level of description.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to sign the 'Modern papers - data protection' form.
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply
Language of material
- English
- Welsh
Script of material
Language and script notes
English; Welsh
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
A hard copy of this list is available at NLW.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
The title of the fonds is supplied from the contents. The original titles of the series, sub-series and files were kept, but have been adapted and translated from Welsh into English. The original titles have been supplied in inverted commas on the folders.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
GEAC system control number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Jones, Erastus, 1918- -- Archives. (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
This description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) Second Edition; AACR2; and LCSH.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
November 2004.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Created by Hywel Gwynn Williams.
Archivist's note
The following sources were used in the compilation of this catalogue: Erastus Jones, Croesi Ffiniau Gyda'r Eglwys yn y Byd (Tŷ John Penri, Swansea, 2000).