Shadrach Livingstone James (15 May 1890 – 7 August 1956) was a teacher, unionist and Aboriginal Australian activist.

Early life and education

James was born in 1890, the eldest son of Thomas Shadrach James and Ada Bethel Cooper at the Cummeragunja Aboriginal Reserve in New South Wales. His father was a Mauritian-born teacher and his mother a member of the

Yorta Yorta people The Yorta Yorta, also known as Jotijota, are an Aboriginal Australian people who have traditionally inhabited the area surrounding the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day north-eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales ...

. In 1909 James married Maggie Campbell in

Echuca Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative centre and largest s ...

. The couple had seven children, three sons and four daughters. James was educated in the mission school run by his father and eventually became qualified as a teaching assistant. After worked with his father it was assumed that he would be appointed his successor as head teacher; however, the New South Wales government declined to appoint him to the position.

Working life

In 1928 James and his family moved to Mooroopna where he worked for Ardmona Fruit Products Co-operative. He was elected as secretary of the local branch of the Food Preservers' Union and was for a time vice-president of the Goulburn district council.

Activism

Between 1928(or 1933?) and 1955 was honorary secretary of the

Australian Aborigines' League The Australian Aborigines' League was established in Melbourne, Australia, in 1933 by William Cooper and others, including Margaret Tucker, Eric Onus, Anna and Caleb Morgan, and Shadrach James (son of Thomas Shadrach James and brother-in-law of C ...

, which he helped to establish in Melbourne in 1933, along with his brother-in-law William Cooper and others. In this role he was active in lobbying government to improve living conditions for Aboriginal people. James faced bureaucratic opposition due to his mixed-race heritage.

Death and legacy

James died in 1956 of a heart attack in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

and was buried in Mooroopna Cemetery. The playwright Andrea James is his granddaughter.

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Shadrach Livingstone 1890 births 1956 deaths Australian people of Indian descent Australian schoolteachers Australian indigenous rights activists