John Jones is the great-great-grandfather of circus historian
Mark St Leon. A London tumbler, he 'landed in chains' in Hobart Town in 1843. After being granted his freedom four years later, he appeared in Radford's Royal Circus - arguably Australia's first Circus - in Launceston in 1847. Johns took the stage-name 'Matthew St Leon' in 1865. His family remained active in Circus and other performance in Australia until the 1960s.
