Richard Jones (14 October 1816 – 25 August 1892) was an Australian journalist, company director and politician. He was a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

between 1856 and 1860 and was the

Colonial Treasurer Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

for 118 days.

Early life

Jones was the son of a Liverpool innkeeper, but he was orphaned at a young age. He was educated in free schools and became an apprentice printer at age 15. Due to indifferent health, Jones emigrated to Sydney in 1838 and worked as a compositor. At this time he became interested in colonial politics and formed a friendship with

Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has ...

, a fellow liberal. In 1843 he established the ''

Maitland Mercury The ''Maitland Mercury'' is Australia's third oldest regional newspaper, preceded only by the '' Geelong Advertiser'' (estab. 1840) and the ''Launceston Examiner'' (estab. 1842). The ''Maitland Mercury'' was established in 1843 when it was calle ...

'', which soon became one of the colony's leading newspapers. Jones was involved in numerous public organizations in the

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

region including the anti-transportation league, Lower Hunter Agricultural Society and Maitland School of Arts. Jones returned to Sydney in 1855 and after retiring from politics became the chairman of the

Commercial Banking Company of Sydney The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited, also known as the CBC, or CBC Bank, was a bank based in Sydney, Australia. It was established in 1834, and in 1982 merged with the National Bank of Australasia to form National Australia Bank. Hi ...

. He was also a director of numerous other colonial companies including the

Australian Gas Light Company The Australian Gas Light Company (AGL) was an Australian gas and electricity retailer, operated entirely by McCarthy Hanlin. It was formed in Sydney in 1837 and supplied town gas for the first public lighting of a street lamp in Sydney in 1841. ...

Colonial Parliament

Jones was unsuccessful in one attempt to enter the Legislative Council prior to the establishment of responsible self-government in 1856. However, at the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

election under the new constitution he was elected to the Legislative Assembly as one of the three members for

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

. He retained the seat until it was abolished at the 1859 election. He then represented the new seat of Hunter until his retirement from politics in 1860. He was an active member of the Assembly and was a member of numerous committees. He contributed significantly to the passage of reforms to the electoral act which allowed for a wide male franchise.

Government

Jones was New South Wales' Colonial Treasurer for 119 days during the term of the second government of Charles Cowper. The Governor, Sir

William Denison Sir William Thomas Denison (3 May 1804 – 19 January 1871) was Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1847 to 1855, Governor of New South Wales from 1855 to 1861, and Governor of Madras from 1861 to 1866. According to Percival S ...

, called on Jones to form a government when the premiership of William Forster collapsed in March 1860. However, Jones doubted his support in the assembly and recommended that the Governor give his commission to John Robertson. He retired from politics during the next month.

Business

Jones was chairman of the

for many years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Richard 1816 births 1892 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Treasurers of New South Wales 19th-century Australian politicians