Charles Jones (February 28, 1781 – August 21, 1840) was a businessman and political figure in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

. He was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

in 1781, the son of Ephraim Jones, and came to Augusta Township, then known as Township No. 7, in Upper Canada with his family in 1784. He was educated in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and became a clerk in the Johnstown District court in 1800 and district treasurer in 1803. Jones settled near Elizabethtown (

Brockville Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically independent of the county. It is included with Le ...

) in 1802 and opened a general store. In 1808, Jones built a new district court-house and jail in the town, allowing it to replace Johnstown as the district town. He built saw mills and

flour mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

s west of Brockville and was involved in a number of industries in the area, including mines and ships. He was a member of the

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

militia and represented Leeds in the 8th and 9th Parliaments in the province. His brother, Jonas, was also a member of the Legislative Assembly. He was appointed to the

Legislative Council of Upper Canada The Legislative Council of Upper Canada was the upper house governing the province of Upper Canada. Modelled after the British House of Lords, it was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. It was specified that the council should consist ...

in 1828. Jones died in Brockville in 1840.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
1781 births Jones, Charlies Jones, Charlies Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Members of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada People from Leeds and Grenville United Counties {{UpperCanada-politician-stub