Shadrach Jones

Shadrach Edward Robert Jones (c. 1822 – 12 July 1895) was a New Zealand doctor, auctioneer, hotel-owner and impresario.

Shadrach Jones

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]