Sir William Jones (1746-1794) was a brilliant linguist, scholar and judge, born in Westminster, London. His father, also named William Jones, was a mathematician from Anglesey, Wales, renowned for introducing the mathematical use of the symbol π — the family's confirmed Welsh connection, even though Sir William himself grew up and was schooled in England.
Jones became one of the most accomplished philologists of his era, learning numerous European, Middle Eastern and Asian languages. Appointed a judge on the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal in 1783, he combined his legal career with pioneering scholarship in Indian history, law and languages, founding the Asiatic Society in Calcutta in 1784.
He is best remembered for identifying the deep kinship between Sanskrit, Greek, Latin and other languages — an insight now seen as a founding moment of comparative and Indo-European linguistics. He also corresponded with Benjamin Franklin in the hope of finding a peaceful settlement to the American War of Independence.