John Jenkins (Australian politician)

John Greeley Jenkins (8 September 1851 – 22 February 1923) was an American-Australian politician. He was Premier of South Australia from 1901 to 1905. He had previously served as Minister for Education and the Northern Territory and Commissioner for Public Works under Thomas Playford II, Commissioner of Public Works under Charles Kingston and Chief Secretary under Frederick Holder. He was subsequently Agent-General for South Australia from 1905 to 1908. He also played a major role in an agreement between the States about the River Murray, and in continuing attempts to develop the Northern Territory.

As chief secretary in Holder's government, he was also minister for defence and had responsibility for the four South Australian contingents to the South African War. Taking over from Holder, Jenkins was premier from 1901 to 1905 and through the 1902 election, and was succeeded as liberal leader by Archibald Peake, who would allow Labor to form government at the 1905 election. Peake would form the Liberal and Democratic Union for the 1906 election.

Jenkins was born in Pennsylvania to Evan Jenkins and Mary Davis of South Wales. After leaving politics, he was an active member of the South Australian Literary Societies' Union and in 1884 the first Premier of the associated Union Parliament.^[1]

• Hundred of Jenkins

• Jenkins, John. "Jenkins, John Greeley (1851–1923)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943.

• "Jenkins, John". Former members of the Parliament of South Australia. Retrieved 19 August 2022.