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This biography, by local author David Rabson, follows the Reverend William Arthur Jones through his early days in Carmarthen. He was one of Taunton's (Somerset, England) civic life's leading figures of the mid-19th century, now largely forgotten. The book describes his university studies in Glasgow, his ministry in Northampton, and his life in Somerset from 1849 to his death in 1873 at the early age of 55. In Taunton he was a highly regarded figure, playing leading roles in the early days of the Archaeology Society and in many other civic institutions, among them the School of Art, which he founded; the Taunton Waterworks Company and the Taunton and Somerset Hospital.
David Rabson read geography at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Having gained a postgraduate town planning diploma at Manchester University he worked for local authorities in the east of England before moving to the Exmoor National Park Authority in 1978. After leaving the National Park in 1997 he served as a parish council clerk for 14 years. In addition to his study of the life of Arthur Jones he has researched the history of his home village of Nynehead and the historical links between the West Country and Le Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy. He is a long-standing member of the SANHS Local History Committee.
