Frederic Jones

Frederic Jones (1832 – 8 September 1890) was a New Zealand politician. Originally from England, he settled in the colony in 1863 for health reasons.

Early life

Jones was the third son of John Humphreys Jones, from the Shropshire region in England. He received his education from the Reverend G. Wharton, vicar of Kinver, and learned the trades of architecture and surveyor. He was employed by the architecture firm Haslam and Butler in London.

In January 1863, Jones arrived in Lyttelton with his brother T. D. Jones on the Chariot of Fame. His second brother, John Humphreys, remained in Dalston, London. The main reason for emigration was to improve his health by a change of climate. but with Jones and the current Mayor of Christchurch, Aaron Ayers considered as the only contenders of having a chance of success, most other candidates withdrew from the contest. On nomination day on 2 February 1887, Jones and Ayers were nominated. A third person, James Arthur Williams, nominated himself, but could not find anybody to second this motion. Thus, the by-election was a two-person contest. On election day, 8 February 1887, the majority opinion was that Ayers would win. There was great interest in the election, as evidenced by the high turnout. Jones had a considerable majority over Ayers, with 527 and 336 votes, respectively. The 191 votes majority was mirrored by Jones having won all four polling stations.

At the 26 September 1887 general election, Jones and J. H. Hopkins were nominated. Hopkins was an active supporter of Jones for the by-election some seven months earlier and had proposed him at the 2 February nomination meeting, Jones and Hopkins received 756 and 309 votes, respectively. Hence, the majority for Jones was 447 votes, and he was elected to the 10th Parliament.

Jones was a first cousin of Edward Wingfield Humphreys,

Death

Jones died on 8 September 1890 after several months of illness at his home in Lichfield Street, Christchurch Central City. On the day of his death, the House of Representatives adjourned their meeting for almost five hours out of respect for the deceased member. He was buried at the Barbadoes Street Cemetery on 10 September.