William Guthrie Spence (7 August 1846 – 13 December 1926), was an Australian

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

leader and politician, played a leading role in the formation of both Australia's largest union, the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exerci ...

, and the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms th ...

Early life

Spence was born on the island of

Eday Eday (, sco, Aidee) is one of the islands of Orkney, which are located to the north of the Scottish mainland. One of the North Isles, Eday is about from the Orkney Mainland. With an area of , it is the ninth-largest island of the archipelago ...

in the

Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and migrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country b ...

with his family as age six. He had no formal education and worked as a farm labourer in the Wimmera district of Victoria from the age of 13. Later he acquired a gold-mining licence and worked for various mining companies. In 1871 he married Ann Jane Savage. In 1874, Spence was one of a number of militant mine-workers who formed the Amalgamated Miners' Association of Victoria, and he became the union's general secretary in 1882. He led the union into mergers with similar unions in the other

Australian colonies The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...

, forming the Amalgamated Miners' Association of Australasia. In 1886, he became the first president of the

Australian Shearers' Union The Australian Shearers' Union (also known as the Australasian Shearers Union, sometimes referred to as the Creswick Shearers' Union) was a significant but short-lived early trade union in Victoria and southern New South Wales. It was formed on 1 ...

; he also became president of its successor, the

Amalgamated Shearers' Union of Australasia The Amalgamated Shearers' Union of Australasia was an early Australian trade union. It was formed in January 1887 with the amalgamation of the Wagga Shearers Union and Bourke Shearers Union in New South Wales with the Victorian-based Australian ...

in 1887, and by 1890 most shearers in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, Victoria and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

had joined the union and 85% of the shearing sheds were open to union members only. Around 1890, Spence became a strong proponent of

Georgism Georgism, also called in modern times Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that, although people should own the value they produce themselves, the economic rent derived from land—including ...

. The Georgist 'Single Tax' proposal was at the time incredibly popular amongst Radical Liberals and the movement was highly influential in the political labour movement, the

being created through the joint efforts of Single Taxers, socialists and trade unionists. Since the Australian economy was expanding rapidly at this time and there was an acute shortage of labour, the unions were in a strong bargaining position and were able to secure great improvements in the living standards of Australia's rural working class. But a depression which began in 1891 led to acute class conflict as the mine owners and graziers tried to cut wages to remain solvent in the face of falling commodity prices, which the unions resisted. In 1894 Spence led the amalgamation of the miners, shearers and other rural workers into the

(AWU), Australia's largest and most powerful union. There were bitter strikes in the maritime and pastoral industries, in which Spence played a leading role, although he was generally a force for moderation in the labour movement. He was the AWU's secretary from 1894 to 1898 and president from 1898 to 1917.

Political career

The defeat of the strikes of 1891–1894 led Spence and other labour leaders to move into politics. Spence supported the formation of the Progressive Political League, an early labour party, in Victoria in 1891 and he was narrowly beaten at a by-election in 1892 for the seat of Dundas in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

. In 1891, he supported the first election campaign by the Labour Party in

, which won a number of seats in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Hous ...

. In 1898, Spence he became MP for

Cobar Cobar is a town in central western New South Wales, Australia whose economy is based mainly upon base metals and gold mining. The town is by road northwest of the state capital, Sydney. It is at the crossroads of the Kidman Way and Barrier H ...

in western New South Wales. He remained president of the AWU, making him one of the most powerful men in New South Wales politics. He described himself as "an evolutionary, not a revolutionary, socialist." Unlike many in the labour movement, Spence supported the

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

of the Australian colonies, and in 1901 he was elected to the first

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of th ...

as MP for the NSW

Division of Darling The Division of Darling was an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. From 1901 until 1922 ...

. Like most of the older generation of labour leaders who were born in the United Kingdom, Spence was associated with the more conservative wing of the

, led by

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but h ...

. He was not really suited to parliamentary life and did not hold office until he was appointed

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsibl ...

in the third Fisher Ministry from September 1914 to October 1915. He was also appointed to the undemanding position of Vice-President of the Executive Council in the second Hughes Ministry from November 1916 to February 1917. In 1916 Hughes decided to introduce

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

to maintain Australia's contribution to the Allied forces in World War I. Most of the Labor Party bitterly opposed this, but Spence sided with Hughes. As a result, he was expelled from the party along with Hughes and the other conscriptionist MPs. He was also deposed as president of the AWU and shortly after was expelled from the union. At the 1917 federal election, although Hughes was easily returned to power, Spence lost his seat, mainly because the AWU organised the rural workers to oppose him. Shortly after he was returned to Parliament at a by-election for the

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

n seat of Darwin. He was one of only a small number of people who have represented more than one state or territory in the Parliament. In 1919, he ran for the Melbourne seat of

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939. ...

, but was defeated. Spence later took up farming at

Terang Terang is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Shire of Corangamite and on the Princes Highway south west of the state's capital, Melbourne. At the , Terang had a population of 1,824. At the 2001 census, ...

, Victoria, and died of

pulmonary oedema Pulmonary edema, also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive liquid accumulation in the tissue and air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause hypoxemia and respiratory failure. It is due ...

on 13 December 1926, aged 80. He was survived by his wife, four daughters and three of his five sons. His daughter Gwynetha had married publisher and politician

Hector Lamond Hector Lamond (31 October 1865 – 26 April 1947) was an Australian politician. He was a Nationalist Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1917 to 1922, representing the electorate of Illawarra. Early life and career La ...

in 1902.

Honours

In 1972, the

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

suburb of Spence was named after him. In October 2003 the Australian Workers' Union named its Melbourne headquarters in Spence's honour.

References

External links

Australian Workers' Union memorial to Spence
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, William Guthrie Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Darling Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Darwin Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian trade unionists People from Orkney People from Victoria (Australia) Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia 1846 births 1926 deaths National Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians

Early life

Political career

Honours

References

Further reading

External links