Jones, Richard, 1816 – 1892

Richard Jones, journalist, company director and parliamentarian, was born at Liverpool, England, the son of John and Elizabeth Jones. He was educated at Liverpool and apprenticed as a printer with the local newspaper. He emigrated to NSW with his wife Martha, arriving in 1838, and worked for the Sydney Monitor and the Australasian Chronicle. In 1843 Jones and Thomas Tucker established the 'Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser'.

Jones returned to Sydney in 1855 having sold his interest in the newspaper and was elected a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly for the seats of Durham (1856-1859) and The Hunter (1859-1860). Jones was appointed Colonial Treasurer in September 1857 in the second Cowper ministry, but resigned the position in January 1858. He retired from politics in 1860 and was elected to the board of directors of the Commercial Banking Co. of Sydney. He was chairman of the CBC bank for twenty years and was a director of a number of public companies. [ref:ADB 2]