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 House ...

between 1856 and 1860 and was the Colonial Treasurer 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 the longest-serving non-consecutive Premier of New South Wales, premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in ...

, 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 called ...

'', which soon became one of the colony's leading newspapers. Jones was involved in numerous public organizations in the Maitland 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. It was formed in Sydney in 1837 and supplied town gas for the first public lighting of a street lamp in Sydney in 1841. AGL was the second company to list on ...

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 most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

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 in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

. He retained the seat until it was abolished at the 1859 election. He then represented the new seat of

Hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

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 Sir Charles Cowper (), (26 April 1807 – 19 October 1875) was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five occasions from 1856 to 1870. Cowper did useful work but does not rank among the more distinguished Australian ...

. 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 Se ...

, 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