His father John George Jones relied on a charity school at Llanfechell for William's education. His mathematical talent gained the attention of the Bulkeley family (local landowners) who found him employment in London working at a merchant's counting-house (where goods were inspected and money exchanged).
Jones also worked for the Royal Navy, teaching mathematics on board Navy ships for seven years from 1695. Here his attention focused on navigation. He wrote 'A New Compendium of the Whole Art of Navigation' published in 1702. In this work he applied mathematics to navigation and methods of calculating locations at sea. Later he became a mathematics teacher in London, both in coffee houses and as a private tutor to the gentry. William also held a number of posts in government offices.
He published Synopsis 'Palmariorum Matheseos' in 1706, a work intended for beginners including theorems on various calculus and infinite series. This used π for the ratio of circumference to diameter, following earlier abbreviations for the Greek word periphery (περιφέρεια) by William Oughtred and others. His 1711 work 'Analysis per quantitatum' series, fluxiones ac differentias introduced the dot notation for differentiation in calculus. Then in 1731 he published Discourses of the Natural Philosophy of the Elements.