John Davies (10 June 1814 – 11 June 1872) co-founded the Australian newspaper '' The Mercury''. Davies was a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites"" ...

born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separa ...

. He was transported to

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, Australia as a

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convic ...

in August 1831, for ordering candles on someone else's account. His father had been transported to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

only a few years before. On 5 July 1854 he and Auber George Jones, a

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n pastoralist, published the first edition of ''The Mercury''. In 1871 Davies passed the management of ''The Mercury'' to his sons.Boyer, p. 234. In June 1872 he opened up the theatre building (which he then owned) to

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also k ...

people seeking temporary shelter due to

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

s. He caught a chill from which he died on 11 June 1872. Davies' son John played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

for

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and was thrice Mayor of Hobart.

Sources

* Boyer, P. (1981) "Davies, Sir John George (1846 - 1913)", ''Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 8'', Melbourne University Press.

References

1814 births 1872 deaths Australian newspaper founders Australian Jews English Jews English emigrants to colonial Australia Davies Brothers Pty Ltd 19th-century Australian newspaper publishers (people) {{Australia-business-bio-stub