Richard Jones (1786 – 6 November 1852) was an English-born businessman and politician in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

(then part of the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

), Australia.

Early life

Jones was born at

Chirbury Chirbury () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Chirbury with Brompton, in the Shropshire district, in west Shropshire, England. It is situated in the Vale of Montgomery, close to the Wales–England border ( at its nea ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

to Thomas Bowdler Jones, small landowner and brewer, and Elizabeth Ann (née) Philips. He was a clerk in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

before migrating to

, arriving in August 1809. He became a successful merchant, pastoralist and was a major shipowner and significant whaler in Sydney. Fifteen of his vessels made 67 whaling voyages from Port Jackson between 1819 and 1843. In 1823 he married Mary Louisa Peterson, with whom he had eight children.

Politics

On 30 January 1829, Jones was an appointed member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

, a role he held until 5 January 1843. In 1832, the Council changed from a fully appointed body to become a body of 36 members with 12 appointed and 24 elected. From 17 July 1843 Jones continued as an appointed member of the Council. However, even as he appointed, his mercantile business was suffering in the economic downturn that prevailed from 1842 to 1844. In August 1843, he was unable to pay debts of £180,000 and he became

insolvent In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet in ...

in October 1843, forcing him to resign from the Council, effective 1 November 1843. Barrister

Robert Lowe Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke, GCB, PC (4 December 1811 – 27 July 1892), British statesman, was a Liberal politician who helped shape British politics in the latter half of the 19th century. He held office under William Ewart Glad ...

was appointed to the Council to replace him. Having moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

(then part of New South Wales but later in

), on 1 October 1850 Jones was elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council representing the electoral district of Counties of Gloucester, Macquarie, and Stanley (Brisbane being within the County of Stanley). He held the position until 30 June 1851, when the electorate was split into three separate electorates. He was then elected on 1 September 1851 to the Council as the member for the new electoral district of Stanley Boroughs, which included North Brisbane (the settled areas north of the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River (Turrbal language, Turrbal: ) is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia. It flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the ...

South Brisbane South Brisbane is an inner southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 14,292 people. Geography South Brisbane is on the southern bank of the Brisbane River, bounded to the nor ...

, Kangaroo Point and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

. He held that position until his death on 6 November 1852.

Later life

While in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

where the Legislative Council met, Jones had a paralytic fit. He returned to his home in New Farm, where he died on Saturday 6 November 1852. On Sunday 7 November 1852, his body was taken by boat to Brisbane where was buried in the

North Brisbane Burial Ground The North Brisbane Burial Ground was a former cemetery in the Town of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was in the area now known as the suburbs of Milton, Queensland, Milton and Paddington, Queensland, Paddington. It was also known as North B ...

with Church of England rites conducted by Reverend H.O. Irwin from St John's. It was estimated that 300 to 400 people attended the burial

Legacy

One of his sons, also called

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

was appointed as a member of the Legislative Council in 1899 until his death in 1909.

References

External links

Colonial Secretary's papers 1822-1877

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...

- includes digitised letters written by Jones to the

Colonial Secretary of New South Wales 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 architecture * Spanish colonial architecture Automobiles * Col ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Richard 1786 births 1852 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Australian people in whaling Australian ship owners 19th-century Australian businesspeople English emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian politicians