Keeping up with the Joneses

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2006

LONDON (AFP) — More than 1,000 people called Jones gathered under one roof and broke the world record for the biggest get-together of people with the same name. Some 1,224 Joneses packed into the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, smashing the previous record gathering of 583, set by the Norbergs of Sweden.

Guinness World Record officials have the task of keeping up with the Joneses and validated the attempt, which was being filmed by Welsh-language television channel S4C. People with the Welsh surname from as far afield as Australia and the United States descended on Cardiff to take part. All had to prove their identity, with maiden names and hyphenated surnames being ruled out. Grace Jones, the flamboyant Jamaican-born 1980s pop star and former Bond girl, was among the...