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Who is David Jones? Founder of Australian luxury department store David Jones
David Jones (1793-1873), was a Welsh-Australian merchant, and the retailer founder of David Jones Limited. As a merchant, he began in Pembrokeshire and London before moving to Sydney via Hobart. In 1838, he established ‘David Jones & Co‘, at 463 George Street, thereby establishing one of the oldest …
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David Jones (1793-1873), was a Welsh-Australian merchant, and the retailer founder of David Jones Limited. As a merchant, he began in Pembrokeshire and London before moving to Sydney via Hobart. In 1838, he established ‘David Jones & Co‘, at 463 George Street, thereby…
Context
David Jones (1793-1873), was a Welsh-Australian merchant, and the retailer founder of David Jones Limited. As a merchant, he began in Pembrokeshire and London before moving to Sydney via Hobart. In 1838, he established ‘ David Jones & Co ‘, at 463 George Street, thereby establishing one of the oldest surviving department stores in the world. His aim was quality goods for all. David Jones (1793-1873), a trader, was born on 8 March 1793, the son of Thomas Jones, a farmer near Llandeilo, Wales, and his wife Nancy. His parents had aspirations for him to join the clergy, but at 15, displaying little interest in farming or the ministry, he departed from home and became an apprentice to a grocer in Carmarthen. At 18, he was offered and accepted the management of a general store in Eglwyswrw, Pembrokeshire, where in 1813 he wedded Catherine Hughes, the daughter of the local clergyman. A year later, during childbirth, she and the infant perished. On 10 September 1822, he married Elizabeth Williams (d.1826).
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Analysis
Jones subsequently relocated to London and promptly secured employment with a retailer in Oxford Street. He changed jobs several times before taking up a position with the firm of R. N. Nicholls, Wood Street, Cheapside, where he quickly advanced to become a trusted assistant. In London in 1828, he married Jane Mander, the daughter of John Mander of East Smithfield. The Mander family were fervent Independents and deeply involved in the activities of the London Missionary Society, and it was through them that David Jones established numerous connections within the Independent community. Through William Wemyss, an acquaintance of the Manders, he encountered Charles Appleton, a businessman from Hobart Town who had established a store in Sydney in 1825 and was visiting London. Jones resigned from Nicholls’s firm and formed a partnership with Appleton, which encompassed the Australian branches under the name of Appleton & Co. Also read: Who is Liran Zvibel? CEO of WEKA was an Israeli soldier, now battles data workloads In October 1834, Jones set sail with his family aboard the Thomas Harrison bound for Hobart. From there, with intentions of expanding his business, he journeyed overland to Launceston to assess the needs of the settlers. He arrived in Sydney aboard the Medway in September 1835. Appleton had entrusted his Sydney business to a partner, Robert Bourne, a former missionary. When Bourne’s partnership expired on 31st December 1835, the firm transitioned to Appleton & Jones, with Jones embarking on the ambitious venture of establishing a business in Sydney modelled on the esteemed wholesale London firms. However, upon Appleton’s arrival, tensions arose between them, leading to the dissolution of their partnership by mutual agreement in 1838. Both Appleton and Jones aired their grievances in the press; Appleton was apprehensive about what he perceived as Jones’s risky credit practices. In response, Jones defended himself, citing a significant increase in turnover since he assumed control of the Sydney business in 1836, reaching £80,000 annually, yielding a colony-specific profit of over £7000. Jones had indeed implemented a liberal credit policy, with the partnership’s credit reaching over £30,000 by its end.
Key Points
- David Jones (1793-1873) was born on 8 March 1793 in Llandeilo, Wales, to Thomas Jones, a farmer, and his wife Nancy.
- Despite his parents’ hopes for him to pursue a career in the church, David showed little interest in farming or ministry, opting instead to apprentice as a grocer in Carmarthen at the age of 15.
- Establishing himself in Sydney in the mid-19th century, Jones formed a partnership with Charles Appleton, aiming to emulate the practices of esteemed London wholesale firms in their business endeavours.
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