John Davies (publisher)

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For other persons of the same name, see John Davies.

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

Davies was born in London. He was transported to Hobart, Australia as a convict in August 1831, for ordering candles on someone else's account. His father had been transported to New South Wales only a few years before.

On July 5, 1854 he and Auber George Jones, a Tasmanian pastoralist, published the first edition of The Mercury.

In June, 1872, Davies opened up the theatre building (which he then owned) to homeless people seeking temporary shelter due to floods. He caught a chill from which he later died, on June 11, 1872.