Richard was born in Anfield, Liverpool in 1923, the eldest of three children to Richard James Jones. He won a scholarship to Liverpool Central School, leaving at the age of 15 to become a clerk in the Liverpool offices of the largest paper merchants in the British Isles.
In 1940 when Liverpool was heavily bombed the family moved permanently to their weekend cottage in North Wales. He was appointed junior clerk in the Town Clerk’s Department of Ruthin Borough Council and then left to join the Royal Air Force at the beginning of 1942. He served for 5 years as a wireless operator mainly in India. Richard holds the Burma Star, 1939-45 Star, Defence Medal and Victory Medal.
After his war service he returned to the council and over time became an Environmental Health Officer. In 1950 he married Enid Rees-Roberts in 1950 and they have two daughters, Avril and Colette. 1950 was also the year that he was promoted to Rate and Revenue Collector and then in 1958 he became deputy Town Clerk. He then moved to become Town Clerk of Swanley in Kent. His first task was to modernize the street lighting for which he designed the “Swanley Arc Lamp”
In the early 1960s Richard became a founder member of the Society of Local Council Clerks.
He was accepted for the position of Town Clerk of Wokingham Town Council in 1974.
One of Richard’s achievements was arranging the twinning of Wokingham with Erftstadt in Germany. He became disillusioned with the council and resigned in 1978, moving to Southsea in Hampshire where he purchased a general store.
Wokingham Town Museum Unique Identifier: WTH0492