Jack_Simons_from_the_Truth_Perth_18th_July_1908_Pg_3

John "Jack" Joseph Simons (also widely known and referred to as J. J. Simons and J. J. "Boss" Simons (12 August 1882 – 24 October 1948) was an Australian businessman and politician, best known for establishing the

Young Australia League The Young Australia League (Inc) (YAL) is an Australian youth organisation which was formed in Perth, Western Australia in 1905 by Jack Simons and Lionel Boas. Developed as a means to encourage Australian nationalism and patriotic values, the o ...

Early life

Simons was born at

Clare, South Australia The town of Clare is located in South Australia in the Mid North region, 136 km north of Adelaide. It gives its name to the Clare Valley wine and tourist region. At the , Clare itself had a population of 3160 as part of an urban area wit ...

to Thomas Simons, a

currier A currier is a specialist in the leather processing industry. After the tanning process, the currier applies techniques of dressing, finishing and colouring to a tanned hide to make it strong, flexible and waterproof. The leather is stretched a ...

, and Margaret Simons, née Henry, a

schoolteacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. In about 1896 he arrived at

Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive fo ...

where he worked for a

tinsmith A tinsmith is a person who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession may sometimes also be known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profession, though the same w ...

. He developed an interest in labour issues with a strong belief in nationalist policies as well as becoming a prominent advocate against

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 Ancient history, antiquity and it continues in some countries to th ...

. At he was confident and charismatic and developed strong debating skills.

Australian rules football Administrator

He was secretary of the

Western Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

from 1905 to 1914 and in 1905 established the Young Australia Football League. The same year together with Lionel Boas, the YAFL was renamed to become the

which aimed to promote healthy outdoor activities for Western Australian youth, particularly boys. The organisation flourished for many years and expanded to other states. Simons was referred to by YAL members as "Boss Simons". Simons acted as tour manager for most representative teams including the West Australian team. Simons promotional work led to the establishment of

Australian rules football in the United States Australian rules football in the United States (most commonly referred to simply as "Footy" but sometimes "Aussie Rules" or AFL) is a team and spectator sport which has grown rapidly since the late 1990s. It was originally introduced to the Unit ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, the first Australian national team to tour overseas and the first two national teams dedicated to the sport to tour Australia.

Education

He was secretary of the Western Australian State School Teachers Union until 1917 and was State president of the Australian Natives' Association in 1910–11. He was secretary of the

Western Australian Trotting Association Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

in 1913–14, later being made a life member.

Politics

In the 1917 federal election he unsuccessfully contested the

Division of Fremantle The Division of Fremantle is an electoral division of the Australian House of Representatives in Western Australia. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistrib ...

for

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

. Simons campaigned with

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...

until they disagreed after Simons wrote newspaper articles criticising trade unionists, referring to strikers as "Trade Union Trash". In

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in Brazil. ** The Spanish liner ''Santa Isabel'' bre ...

he won the Seat of East Perth in the state parliament. He resigned his seat on 1 November 1922 and subsequently nominated as a candidate for the resulting by-election on 18 November 1922, but was defeated by the Labor candidate,

Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 182222 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. ...

. He supported

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

James Mitchell's land development and migration programmes and the ill-fated Kendenup community established by Jack De Garis in 1920. Simons Road in the town is named in his honour.

Publishing

Simons was active in publishing, producing an annual ''Australian Junior'' from 1906 to 1911 as well as the monthly ''Boomerang'', edited from 1914 by himself as an extension to YAL activities. In 1918 he established the ''

Call Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call, a type of betting in poker * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...

'', a sports focussed weekly newspaper with

Victor Courtney Victor Desmond Courtney (27 May 1894 – 1 December 1970) was a Western Australian journalist and newspaper editor. From small beginnings in a partnership (with Jack Simons) in a weekly sporting newspaper, ''The Call'', through to a Saturd ...

, and in 1921 in a partnership with Courtney purchased a struggling Saturday-evening paper, '' The Mirror'' building its circulation during the 1920s to over 10,000. In 1926 Simons published ''Reflections'', a collection of his own beliefs and experiences. In 1935, a syndicate led by Simons and including Courtney and mining entrepreneur

Claude de Bernales Claude Albo de Bernales (31 May 1876 – 9 December 1963) was a Western Australian mining entrepreneur whose business activities and marketing did much to stimulate investment in Western Australia during the early years of the twentieth ce ...

purchased Western Press Limited, the publishers of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' for £55,000. Simons was managing director until his death in 1948.

Death

Simons died of heart disease in 1948 and was buried in the Roman Catholic section of

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

. His epitaph reads "I am the Spirit of the League". Several years before his death he assigned his interest in Western Press to the Y.A.L. which yielded over £50,000 to the organisation. When the 3-tier grandstand at

Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood. Subiaco Oval was the high ...

was opened on 31 August 1969, it was named the "J J Simons-W R Orr-R W Hill Grandstand", partly in his honour. In 2019, Simons was inducted into the

West Australian Football Hall of Fame The West Australian Football Hall of Fame was created in 2002 to recognise and enshrine those who have made a significant contribution to Australian rules football in Western Australia. People eligible for inclusion are players, coaches, umpires, ...