Alfred James Jones (4 October 1871 – 7 October 1945) was an Australian politician who served as a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former electoral div ...

, a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Council Following are lists of members of the Queensland Legislative Council: * 1860–1869 * 1870–1879 * 1880–1889 * 1890–1899 *1900–1909 The 1900s may refer to: * 1900s (decade), the decade from 1900 to 1909 * The century from 1900 to 1999, al ...

and as

Lord Mayor of Brisbane The Lord Mayor of Brisbane is the chief executive of the City of Brisbane, the capital of the Australian state of Queensland, and the head of the Brisbane City Council. Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner of the Liberal National Party was sworn in on ...

Early life

Alfred James Jones was born at

Gayndah, Queensland Gayndah is a town and locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Gayndah had a population of 1,981 people. It is the administrative centre for the North Burnett Region. Geography Gayndah is on the Burnett River and ...

, the son of Joseph Jones and his wife Ann (''née'' Stevens). He received a basic education at

Burnett State School Burnett may refer to: Places ;Antarctica *Burnett Island, an island in the Swain Islands ;Australia *Burnett County, New South Wales, a cadastral division * The Burnett River in Queensland * Burnett Heads, Queensland * Shire of Burnett, a former ...

and became a stockman and miner. He spent a short time teaching, was a

Cobb & Co Cobb & Co was the name used by many successful sometimes quite independent Australian coaching businesses. The first was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name Cobb & Co grew to great prominence in the late 19th ...

driver and spent six years mining. He married Martha Elizabeth Leggett in Gayndah on 1 May 1895 and they had five sons and five daughters: Alfred Stevens, Claude Mills, Gladys Mary, Edward Joseph, Nellie Ann Millicent, Ina, Molly Nundah, Burnett Cranbrook, Allan Halley, and Dorothy Clara.

Queensland Legislative Assembly

Jones contested four

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

seats for the Labor Party, and held three of them. He won Burnett in

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

with 68% of the vote, but lost the seat after one term and failed to regain it in the 1912 election. He won Maryborough in

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...

with about 56% of the vote. Jones resigned on 14 February 1917 to enter the upper house, the

Queensland Legislative Council The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May 1860. It was abolished by the Constitution Amendment Act 1921, which to ...

Queensland Legislative Council

Jones was appointed to the Queensland Legislative Council on 14 February 1917, where he was the representative of the Government and also Minister for Mines. He resigned from the Legislative Council on 16 September 1920 in order to contest the lower house seat of Carnarvon in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

but was not elected, and was returned to the upper house on 21 October 1920. He was one of the last members of the Queensland Legislative Council, as he led the vote to abolish the upper house in 1921, leading to its abolition on 3 March 1922.

Return to Queensland Legislative Assembly

Jones won

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

in 1922 and held the seat until 1932 when the district was abolished due to redistribution. Jones was

Secretary for Mines The position of Secretary for Mines is a now defunct office in the United Kingdom Government, associated with the Board of Trade. In 1929, the department took over responsibility for petroleum. In 1940, the department was divided with Geoffrey ...

for most of the period from 1917 to 1929. On Saturday 28 March 1925, Jones officially opened the

Windera railway line The Windera Branch Railway is a branch railway line from Barlil to Windera in Queensland, Australia. History Contemporaneously with parliamentary approval for the Murgon-to-Proston railway line came authorisation for a branch line from B ...

from Barlil to

Windera Windera is a town in the South Burnett Region and a locality split between the South Burnett Region and the Gympie Region in Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Windera had a population of 93 people. Geography Windera was the termin ...

in the Burnett area.

Lord Mayor

Jones was Lord Mayor of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

from 1934 to 1940. He attempted to solidify the Greater Brisbane vision of the 1925 amalgamation with a large system of civic loans.

1934 Election

With universal suffrage restored to Brisbane City Council elections, Alfred Jones and the Labor Party won easily, picking up 14 of the 20 wards. Once again Brisbane was led by popularly elected Mayor.

1937 Election

Harry Massey the independent Alderman for Toowong was convinced by the conservative

Citizens' Municipal Organisation The Citizens' Municipal Organisation (CMO), known before its expansion as the Citizens' Municipal Party (CMP), was an Australian political organisation that ran in local elections in the City of Brisbane. History The CMO was formed in 1936 afte ...

(CMO) (which was formed on 23 June 1936) to run as their Lord Mayoral candidate for the 1937 election. On 24 April 1937, Jones won easily, increasing his margin of victory. The CMO won two new wards to Labor's one for a net gain of 1 ward.

1940 Election

Allegations that his administration was plagued by accusations of corruption and inefficiency lead to a complete Labor collapse in the 1940 election, when he lost the mayoralty to

John Beals Chandler Sir John Beals Chandler (21 February 1887 – 19 January 1962), frequently referred to as J. B. Chandler, was the Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1940 to 1952, and the Member for the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, representing the electorate of ...

Later life

Jones died in

Brisbane General Hospital The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) is a tertiary public hospital located in Herston, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is operated by Metro North Health, part of the Queensland Health network. The hospital has 929 bed ...

on 7 October 1945. His funeral service was held on 8 October 1945 at

St John's Cathedral :''This list is for St. John the Evangelist Cathedrals. For St. John the Baptist Cathedrals, see St. John the Baptist Cathedral (disambiguation)'' St. John's Cathedral, St. John Cathedral, or Cathedral of St. John, or other variations on the name ...

, after which he was cremated at the

Mt Thompson Crematorium Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens and Crematorium (formerly Brisbane Crematorium) includes a heritage-listed chapel (the West Chapel), columbaria and other features. It is located on north-western slopes of Mount Thompson in Brisbane, Australia. ...

Street name

A number of street names in the

suburb of Carina Heights are identical to the surnames of former Members of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

. One of these is Jones Road.

References

External links

Jones, Alfred James (1871–1945)
Australian Dictionary of Biography. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Alfred James 1871 births 1945 deaths Mayors and Lord Mayors of Brisbane Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Members of the Queensland Legislative Council Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland