John Jones

MI5 Director-General 1981-85

Sir John Jones (MI5, Crown Copyright).

Sir John Jones was the Director-General of the Security Service, MI5, from 1981 to 1985 (ref 1).

Early life

Jones was born in February 1923 in Easington, Durham, the son of coalminer Isaac Jones and his wife Isabel Raine (ref 2, p.571). He attended Nelson Grammar School, Cumberland and won a scholarship to Christ's College Cambridge, where he arrived in 1940 (ref 2, p.571). During the Second World War, he served as an officer in the Royal Artillery  (ref 2, p.571). He returned to Cambridge after the war, gaining a first in part two of the historical tripos, and a certificate in education (ref 2, p.571).