Jones (Mayor) John

**Fast Facts**
Type of person	Individual
Date of birth	1818
Place of birth	Bolton, England
Date of arrival	1848
Principal occupation	Blacksmith
Date of death	1904
Place of decease	Church Hill

Mayor 1875-76

Setting out for Adelaide in 1840 from Liverpool, John Jones was waylaid because of a mistake on the part of his agent, and ended up travelling to Sydney, where he settled at Windsor on the Hawkesbury River in NSW. Born in 1818 at Little Hulton, near Bolton, England, to John Jones senior – a blacksmith and wheelwright – John Junior eventually journeyed over to South Australia seven years later, taking 10 weeks via horse teams, encountering many interesting sights along the way.

Soon after his arrival in Adelaide, John proceeded to Gawler and began work with James Martin on November 14, 1848, and after a short period, began his own blacksmith and wheelwright business, which he remained in until his retirement in 1899. On February 22, 1849, Mr. Jones married Pernal Pendlebury, and they had one son and six daughters.

In 1867 Mr. Jones entered the Municipal Council, and in 1875 served his first two-year term as mayor. Remaining actively involve in the community, he then served his second stint as mayor in 1889 and 1890, giving him the unique distinction, with James Martin, as the only two Gawler mayors to serve in that capacity in three different decades of the 19th century.

Mr. Jones began the Methodist Church in Gawler. Soon after his arrival in the town, and noticing a number of people standing around on the corner of Tod and Murray Streets, he gathered them in and informed the group he was a preacher of the Methodist faith, and was happy to conduct services if a suitable building could be found. James Martin offered his wheelwright’s shop, and so the Methodist faith had its start in the town. The first church was built in 1850, with John helping to dig the foundations.

John Jones was also connected with the Salvation Army, and attained the rank of Staff-Officer, and laid one of the foundation stones of that organisation’s first buildings in 1884. A Justice of the Peace for 30 years, Mr. Jones died at the ripe old age of 86 on June 17, 1904 at his residence, “Hillside” on Church Hill, giving him one of the longest tenures in the town at the time; 56 years.

John Jones was Gawler Councillor elected to North Ward 1867 to 1868. He was re-elected to North Ward 1870 to 1873. He was elected Gawler Mayor 1875 to 1890.

click here for photos