Shadrach Edward Robert Jones (c. 1822 – 12 July 1895) was a New Zealand doctor, auctioneer, hotel-owner and impresario.
Jones was born in Gravesend, Kent, England in circa 1822.[1] He graduated MD from St Andrews University in Scotland in 1844 and then practised medicine in Shropshire.[1]
Jones emigrated to the Australian gold diggings and by 1854 was an auctioneer in Bendigo (then called Sandhurst).[1] In 1861 he came to New Zealand to join the Otago gold rush buying the Commercial Hotel and leasing the Provincial Hotel in Dunedin.[1][2] He was well known in the hospitality business in Dunedin where he also leased land at Andersons Bay to establish the Vauxhall Gardens.[2][3] In 1863 he engaged the All England Eleven cricket team to come to New Zealand and play matches in Dunedin and Christchurch, but the tour was a financial failure.[1][4][5] He also brought Lysters' Opera Company from Australia to Dunedin to perform Italian operas.[3] His residence became the Red Cross Montecillo Home.[3]
He left New Zealand in the mid-1860s returning in 1882 leaving his wife and family in England.[1] He practised medicine, and was the public vaccinator, in Tapanui from 1883 to 1887.[1][6] He then went to Sydney with his nephew Harwood where he continued to practise medicine.[3]
He died in Raymond Terrace, New South Wales on 12 July 1895.[1][2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Griffiths, George. "Shadrach Edward Robert Jones". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ a b c "A Dunedin notable". Press. 16 August 1895. p. 5. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ^ a b c d Fulton, Robert Valpy (19 April 1921). "MEDICAL PRACTICE IN OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND IN THE EARLY DAYS". Otago Witness. p. 53. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ^ "The return of a celebrity". Poverty Bay Herald. 17 October 1883. p. 2. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ^ "Otago". Lyttelton Times. 27 October 1863. p. 5. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ^ Wright St Clair, Rex (2003). Historia Nunc Vivat: Medical Practitioners in New Zealand 1840–1930 (PDF). p. 209. ISBN 978-0-473-24073-8.
External links
- Shadrach Jones, cartoon from Front Punch, 1868 in Hocken Library
