Richard Lewis Jenkins (1815 – 13 August 1883) was a Welsh-born Australian politician. He was born at Newport in

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

, the son of Richard Jenkins. A qualified medical doctor, he migrated to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

for health reasons in 1841. After settling in the

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its ...

, he married Mary Rae Johnstone, the daughter of the first magistrate. He bought land on the

Peel Peel or Peeling may refer to: Places Australia * Peel (Western Australia) * Peel, New South Wales * Peel River (New South Wales) Canada * Peel Parish, New Brunswick * Peel, New Brunswick, an unincorporated community in Peel Parish * Pee ...

and Namoi rivers. In 1857 he returned to

, and in 1858 he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

for Liverpool Plains and Gwydir. Re-elected for Gwydir in 1859, he was defeated in 1860. He was an early advocate for compulsory universal public education. Jenkins died at

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in 1883.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Richard Lewis 1815 births 1883 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 19th-century Australian politicians