Walter Russell (Jack) Crampton (3 July 1877 – 20 October 1938) was an Australian

trade unionist 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 Employee ben ...

, journalist and politician. He was a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Council Following are lists of members of the Queensland Legislative Council: * 1860–1869 * 1870–1879 * 1880–1889 * 1890–1899 *1900–1909 The 1900s may refer to: * 1900s (decade), the decade from 1900 to 1909 * The century from 1900 to 1999, al ...

, until he voted (with others) to abolish the Council.

Personal life

Crampton was born in 1877 in

Redfern, New South Wales Redfern is an inner-city suburb of Sydney located 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Strawberry Hills is a locality on the border with Surry Hills. The area ...

, Australia, the eldest child of Walter James Crampton and Sarah Phillips. He left school at age 14 and then "humped his swag" around western New South Wales.Crampton, Walter Russell (1877–1938)
''Australian Dictionary of Biography Online'', accessed 18 October 2009. He came to Queensland in 1898. He married Amy Maria Beadle on 2 January 1903 in Townsville, Queensland.Queensland Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages They had five children: Raymond, Morrie, Madge, Jack and Jill. He was commonly known as Jack Crampton.Obituary, "The Passing of a Great Labor Stalwart: Death of Alderman W.R. Crampton", ''The Worker'' (Brisbane), Tues 25 October 1938. Walter died on 20 October 1938 at Brisbane, Queensland after a short illness.Obituary, "Death of a Labor Stalwart", ''Brisbane Courier-Mail'', Fri 21 October 1938. He was cremated at the

Mt Thompson Crematorium Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens and Crematorium (formerly Brisbane Crematorium) includes a heritage-listed chapel (the West Chapel), columbaria and other features. It is located on north-western slopes of Mount Thompson in Brisbane, Australia. ...

Public life

In April 1892 Crampton joined the Slaughtermen's Union in April 1892, beginning a lifelong association with the union movement. He moved to Queensland in 1898 and was working as a meatworker in northern Queensland where he became concerned about the conditions of working men. In particular, he was concerned that many abattoirs would only employ workers on contracts that gave them no job security. In 1904, he had moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and became the full-time organizer for the Australasian Federated Butchers' Employees' Union in 1908. In this role, he worked tirelessly to unionise the

abattoir A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

s of North Queensland. When managers would turn him away from their premises, he would slog through mud flats and bush to find a back entrance to the workplaces to talk with the workers. Crampton sought to achieve greater unionisation in all workplaces. From 1910 to 1913, he was a member of the central political executive of the

Australian Labor Federation Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

. In 1911 he established the southern district branch of the Amalgamated Workers' Association and was involved in organising the sugar workers' strike at

Mackay, Queensland } Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensland ...

. In 1912, he became President of the Brisbane branch of the

. In 1912, Crampton stood for election as a member of the

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 labour ...

for the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

for the seat of

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, but was not successful. Instead he became secretary of the Queensland branch of Australasian Federated Butchers' Employees' Union. He was a director of the newspapers '' The Daily Standard'' and '' The Worker'', both of which were affiliated with the Australian Labour Party. In 1914, he resigned his roles with his union to work as a journalist on ''The Daily Standard'', writing under the name

Jack Aster Walter Russell (Jack) Crampton (3 July 1877 – 20 October 1938) was an Australian trade unionist, journalist and politician. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council, until he voted (with others) to abolish the Council. Personal l ...

. In 1915–17 he was appointed to the

public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

as the director of labour, where he worked to reorganise the department. In 1917 he returned to the ''Daily Standard'' as its general manager, a role he held until 1927. In 1916-19 Crampton was a government representative on the Senate of the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

. Jack Crampton was a member of

Register of Members of the Legislative Assembly 1860–2009 and of the Legislative Council 1860-1922
accessed 18 October 2009 and was appointed to the

Queensland Legislative Council The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May 1860. It was abolished by the Constitution Amendment Act 1921, which to ...

on 10 October 1917. Although it was a lifetime appointment, the Council was abolished on 23 March 1922. Jack Crampton was one of those who voted for its abolition, as it had been Labor Party policy to abolish the Council for many years. Crampton was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...

from 1921 to 1925 and then again from 1934 to 1937 in the Paddington Ward and from 1937 to his death in 1938 in the Baroona Ward. During this time, he served on the following committees:.Brisbane City Council Archives * Works Committee 1922–1924 * Health Committee 1922–1924 * Parks & Gardens Committee 1922–1924 * Lighting Committee 1922–1924 * Anzac Memorial Special Committee 1922–1924 * Markets & Wharves Committee 1922–1924 * Ferries & Baths Committee 1923–1924 * Finance Committee 1924–1925 * Buildings & Alignments of Roads Committee 1924–1925 * Legislative Committee 1924–1925 * Theatres & Entertainments Committee 1924–1925 * Town Hall Special Committee 1924–1925 * Health Committee 1936–1938 * Electricity Supply Committee 1936–1937 * Works Committee 1937–1938 * Parks Committee 1937–1938 * Water Supply & Sewerage Committee 1938 * Town Planning Committee 1937–1938 (Chair)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crampton, Walter Russell 1877 births 1937 deaths Members of the Queensland Legislative Council Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland

Personal life

Public life

See also

References