Johnny Jones (pioneer)

[3] Financial constraints led Jones to move permanently to New Zealand with his family in 1843, dividing his time between Waikouaiti and Wellington.

The decline of whaling forced him to close the Waikouaiti station in the late 1840s, and he concentrated on developing his farm which soon became an important food source for the new settlement of Dunedin, where he moved in 1854.

During the early days of settlement in Dunedin, Jones' shipping and trading interests set him up as the chief rival to James Macandrew.

[citation needed] During the 1860s, Jones' interests again turned to shipping, firstly as a shareholder of the short-lived Otago Steam Ship Company, and then through his own venture, the Harbour Steam Navigation Company,[1] which served the ports of Dunedin, Port Chalmers, and Oamaru, and later also traded with Hokitika on the West Coast.

Jones had little interest in politics, and refused a position offered by Edward Stafford on the New Zealand Legislative Council.