• Name: Jones, Louisa
• Gender: Female
• Birth Date: August  1773
• Death Date:
• Occupation: housekeeper
• Occupation: foster mother

Miss Louisa Jones, who has occasional appearances prior to 1797, was a friend of Godwin’s sister Hannah (See Janet Todd, Mary Wollstonecraft, p. 437n), who went to keep house at the Polygon and act as foster mother to Fanny and Mary after Wollstonecraft's death. Her father was a linen draper in Bath, and she may have become acquainted with Hannah through the trade.

According to Marshall, John Arnot, one of Godwin’s early disciples, fell in love with Louisa (Marshall, p. 196). Marshall also suggests that Godwin himself did not see her as fitted for the role as a mother and companion to himself, though she was willing (Marshall, p. 247). Biographers suggest that Jones drops out of the diary when she runs off with Dyson (Locke pp. 186 – 187), but is not a plausible way of reading the confused letters from Jones to Godwin over her departure - written while she still seems to be in his house. Indeed, on 4 July 1801, Louisa Jones was married at St Dionis Backchurch, London, to Henry Dibbin. And on 7 August, the couple call on Godwin. Godwin was angry at their marriage and denied Louisa Jones/Dibbin all further access to the children.

Against that account must be set the fact that in October and November 1800 John Arnot writes to Godwin saying that 'I am sorry for what you tell me of Dyson and Louisa Jones. Can you give me their address?' MS. Abinger c.6, fol. 52r (and repeated almost verbatim in MS. Abinger c. 6, fols 82-3. It is possible that the relationship with Dibbin is subsequent to one with Dyson - or that Godwin was misinformed or misled. Godwin evidently responded to Arnot that 'Louisa in (?is) some sort of bird of passage' according to a slightly later letter from Arnot. MS. Abinger, c. 6, fol 121r: 4 Jan. 1801.

The early Miss Jones could be references to Margaret Jones, but Louisa seems more likely (as she was the special friend of Hannah Godwin, who would have recommended her to Godwin after Wollstonecraft's death). Louisa certainly had sisters (Elizabeth, Frances and Margaret) although the first two seem to have resided in Bath, at least in 1798. However, in one of her last notes, concerned with ending her employment at Godwin's, she refers to Margaret coming to stay the night, and asks whether he would prefer that she didn't. There is a late reference in August 1834 to a Miss Jones who visited Godwin with a companion (Lobrot), bringing him fourteen nectarines, which Godwin considered profligate. Margaret Jones ran a school in Greenwich, and subsequently in Cresswell Park Blackheath with Marie Ann Lobrot (ten years her senior). In 1836, an advertisement appeared in the Morning Post soliciting contributions to save the two women from destitution. Mrs L. Dibbin subscribed £5.

There are several letters surviving between Jones and Godwin (the first and second during his trips to Bath and Bristol, and a group in relation to Jones leaving Godwin's employment.

• MS. Abinger c. 4, fols. 8-9: 9 Mar. 1798
• MS. Abinger c. 15, fols. 22-30: n.d.
• MS. Abinger c. 6, fol. 52r: 10 Oct. 1800
• MS. Abinger c. 6, fols. 82-3: 26 Nov. 1800
• MS. Abinger, c. 6, fol. 121r: 4 Jan. 1801
• MS. Abinger c. 43, fols. 39-40: [29]-30 Aug. [1834]
• Janet ToddMary Wollstonecraft: A Revolutionary Life (2000, paperback edn. London: Phoenix Press, 2001)
• Marshall
• Locke
• StClair

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.

• Name: Jones, Margaret
• Gender: Female
• Birth Date: September  1772
• Death Date:

See also Louisa Jones

The three biographies of Godwin and the Wollstonecraft Letters and biographies make no mention of her. She appears in 1797, shortly after Wollstonecraft's death. The first entries are in October 1797, first to Margaret Jones and then switching immediately to MJ, but then swapping between different forms through both 1797 and 1798. It seems likely that she is Louisa Jones's sister (there is an entry for E and M Jones in Bath - and Louisa Jones's letters to Godwin when he is at Bath ask him to 'give my love' to her sisters. There are some joint visits to the theatre with L and M J). It is possible that she initially played some role in the care of Fanny and Mary, since the transition from 'Margaret Jones' to MJ is almost instantaneous, followed by a mix of MJ entries and M Jones. This makes the identification a little uncertain. In 1798 there are entries for M. Jones at the beginning of the year but these then become MJ entries. On one occasion M J 'sleeps'. After Louisa Jones leaves Godwin there are no further entries for M Jones until 1801, suggesting that she may have accompanied her sister and returned home. She also appears with Miss Godwin several times in 1797, and, like Louisa may be primarily an acquaintance of Hannah Godwin's. MJ subsequently comes to be used to denote Mary Jane Clairmont, Godwin's second wife.

There is a large group of Jones entries that lack any further qualification that would enable identification. These have been left uncoded 29 -- jones: 1794-03-09 1794-04-15 1795-06-02 1795-10-18 1798-05-10 1798-06-12 1798-06-23 1798-09-04 1799-01-16 1799-06-15 1804-04-14 1805-05-04 1805-12-23 1809-11-25 1813-12-27 1813-12-28 1821-06-07 1821-11-26 1822-07-08 1830-09-09 1831-01-04 1834-06-07 1834-08-26 1834-09-19 1834-12-25 1835-01-13 1835-05-28 1836-02-19
1 -- jones (millenium hall): 1821-06-08
1 -- jones , size lane: 1814-01-04
1 -- jones t ckd: 1795-10-08
1 -- mes jones: 1831-01-07
10 -- jones's: 1797-05-09 1797-06-18 1797-12-29 1798-03-05 1798-03-10 1798-03-12 1798-03-14 1798-06-07 1798-11-14 1799-05-19

The early Miss Jones could be references to Margaret Jones, but Louisa seems more likely (as she was the special friend of Hannah Godwin, who would have recommended her to Godwin after Wollstonecraft's death). Louisa certainly had sisters (Elizabeth, Frances and Margaret) although the first two seem to have resided in Bath, at least in 1798. However, in one of her last notes, concerned with ending her employment at Godwin's, she refers to Margaret coming to stay the night, and asks whether he would prefer that she didn't. There is a late reference in August 1834 to a Miss Jones who visited Godwin with a companion (Lobrot), bringing him fourteen nectarines, which Godwin considered profligate. Margaret Jones ran a school in Greenwich, and subsequently in Cresswell Park Blackheath with Marie Ann Lobrot (ten years her junior - although the Morning Post suggests he opposite). In 1836, an advertisement appeared in the Morning Post soliciting contributions to save the two women from destitution. Mrs L. Dibbin subscribed £5. Entries involving both Lobrot and Jones have been coded for this Jones.

• Morning Post8 June 1836

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.