Linton's violin

I first knew of Linton's existence when I was eleven years old. I inherited an antique tea cup from a family member. The tea cup was one of six in a set that Linton had given his mother as a gift right before he left New Zealand for England in 1942. It is white and sky blue with real gold gilding. I didn't realize at the time, just how precious it was and how lucky I was to inherit it. I did not imagine I would spend years researching his life in the future. My eleven year old self wasn't particularly interested in family history yet, so I took the tea cup home and it stayed wrapped in bubble wrap for a few years... Until I started playing the violin.

I was inspired to play the violin by contemporary violinist, Lindsey Stirling.

For my 17th birthday I got a rented violin. I made steady progress for about a year, and at that point was looking into buying a violin. I mentioned this in passing to my father, who said not to buy one because there was an old family violin in the attic.

The violin in the attic was, of course, Linton's. So I was reintroduced to Linton Jones, and this time, much more interested in learning more about him.

My father and I took his violin to a luthier who restored it beautifully. I am still playing Linton's violin to this day. It has a lovely tone, and it's very special to be able to play an instrument with a history.

A family friend that knew Linton said of him:

"Linton was a very talented musician, with other instruments as well as violin. He had a very bad stutter and was hard to understand when you were talking to him, but as soon as he sang the stutter went away."

Above: Charcoal portrait of Rothesay Linton Jones playing his violin.

By an interesting coincidence, among the sheet music with Linton's instruments was a piece of music titled 'Hannah!' (pictured below)

Above: The teacup and saucer I inherited. A gift from Linton to his mother, Roberta.

Below: The restoration result.

If anyone reading this has any additional information regarding Linton, please fill out the contact form below. I would love to hear from you.