John Davies (2 March 1839 – 23 May 1896), was a member of the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Eac ...

. Davies was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, the son of John Davies, of New South Wales. In 1861 he married Miss Elisabeth Eaton. Alderman John Davies, C

Starting in business as an ironmonger and general blacksmith, he commenced to take an active part in politics on the Liberal side as soon as he was of age. On 1 December 1874 he was elected an alderman for the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

, serving as an alderman until 1882. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly as one of four members for East Sydney at the election on 9 December 1874, representing this seat until 1880. He was

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a Ministry (government department), ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having ...

in the

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Places ...

Government from August to December 1877. Davies was acting British Commissioner at the

Sydney International Exhibition The Sydney International Exhibition was established headed by Lord Augustus Loftus and took place in Sydney in 1879, after being preceded by a number of Metropolitan Intercolonial Exhibitions through the 1870s in Prince Alfred Park. Organi ...

in 1879, and was made a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

in the following year, when he was a Commissioner for New South Wales to the

Melbourne International Exhibition The Melbourne International Exhibition is the eighth World's fair officially recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and the first official World's Fair in the Southern Hemisphere. Preparations After being granted self-go ...

; as also for the Amsterdam Exhibition in 1883, and the

Colonial and Indian Exhibition The Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 was held in South Kensington in London with the objective to (in the words of the then Prince of Wales) "stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union now existing in every portion of her Majes ...

in 1886. He was President of the Royal Commission on Friendly Societies. In 1880 Davies switched to the new district of South Sydney, In 1882 he was defeated for South Sydney, and then a week later was unsuccessful at

Kiama Kiama () is a coastal town 120 kilometres south of Sydney in the Illawarra. One of the main tourist attractions is the Kiama Blowhole. Kiama features several popular surfing beaches and caravan parks, and numerous alfresco cafes and restaurants ...

. He was returned as a member for South Sydney in 1885, but was defeated again in 1887. He was not well educated and acquired the nickname "Jannery", on account of his inability to correctly spell January, under cross examination by Frederick Darley , during his

slander Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

case against John Harris. Davies was appointed to the Legislative Council in December 1887, taking his seat in February 1888 and serving until his death on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, John 1839 births Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council 1896 deaths 19th-century Australian politicians Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George