Hugh Jones, an Anglican clergyman, mathematician, and historian, is primarily remembered for his vigorous promotion of colonial Virginia. Born in the county of Hereford, the son of Richard Jones of Little Dewchurch, Jones earned his bachelor's (1712) and master's degrees (1716) at Oxford, and upon the recommendation of the Bishop of London, he received the first appointment to the chair in mathematics in the College of William and Mary. Jones arrived in Virginia in 1717 and quickly gained the confidence of Governor Alexander Spotswood, through whom he became the chaplain of the House of Burgesses, a minister in Jamestown, and a lecturer at Bruton Church in Williamsburg, all while continuing at the college. In colonial politics his alignment with Sportswood brought about Jones's clash with Commissary James Blair in 1719 over ministerial appointments, with Jones supporting the governor's claim to appoint ministers to all ecclesiastical benefices in the colony and challenging Blair's...