William Jones (philologist)
Sir William Jones | |
|---|---|
A steel engraving of Sir William Jones, after a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds | |
| Puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal | |
| In office 22 October 1783 – 27 April 1794 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 October 1746 |
| Died | 27 April 1794 (aged 47) |
| Resting place | South Park Street Cemetery |
| Spouse |
Anna Maria Shipley (m. 1783) |
| Parent |
|
Sir William Jones FRS FRAS FRSE (28 September 1746 – 27 April 1794) was a Welsh philologist, scholar and judge. Born in Westminster, London to Welsh mathematician William Jones, he moved to the Bengal Presidency where Jones served as a puisne judge on the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William and also became a scholar of ancient Indian history. He is known for being one of the earliest scholars to assert the kinship of the Indo-European languages, albeit not the first. Jones also founded the Asiatic Society in Calcutta in 1784.