People Australia

Charlie Vinall, n.d.

Charles Thomas (Charlie) Vinall (1882-1962) miner, alderman and trade union official 

Birth: 14 July 1882 at Springton, South Australia, son of native-born parents Thomas Vinall (1856-1934) and Pauline Louise, née Starick (1859-1950). Marriage: 3 November 1906 at Broken Hill, New South Wales, to Lilie, née Harvey, late Deeble (1873-1941), a widow, born at Camborne, Cornwall, England, who had one surviving son. They had one daughter and four sons. Death: 21 August 1962 at Broken Hill. Religion: Methodist. 

• Coalminer at Jumbunna, South Gippsland, Victoria. Went to Broken Hill in 1900.
• Miner from 1900 to 1905. Dismissed as a result of dispute where he supported a workmate who he believed had been treated unfairly. Worked in shops in the town.
• Returned to mining at South mine when there was a big fire underground. Secretary of Workers' Industrial Union of Australia (Barrier District) in 1921-22, resigned due to injuries in a motor accident. Left Broken Hill in March 1924 on medical advice and returned at the end of 1925.
• Contested position again for secretary of WIUofA in 1925 and held office until he retired in 1955.
• Alderman on Broken Hill council 1929-1931. Described by the anti-Labor Barrier Miner as “unobtrusive, unpretentious, hard-working … a good servant of the union … known to dislike publicity”.
• Foundation member and sometime district master of Willyama lodge of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows. Also sometime president of the United Friendly Societies’ Council.
• Cause of Death: Congestive heart failure and senility.

Sources
Barrier Daily Truth (Broken Hill), 17 December 1926, 7 September 1933, [p 5]; Common Cause, 1 September 1962 p 2