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Charles Henry (Carl) Anderson (1860–1934)

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Charles (Carl) Anderson (1860-1934) trade union official

Birth: 1 May 1860, at Ballarat, Victoria, the son of Peter Michael Anderson (born Denmark) and his wife Hiltje Sikkes nee Parma (born Netherlands). Married: Louise West. They had five daughters and one son.  Death: 20 August 1934, at Ringwood, Melbourne, Victoria.

  • Grew up in Victorian goldfields.
  • Worked first as pupil teacher in Ballarat district, and then as assistant and bookkeeper in uncle’s store in South Australia.
  • Travelling salesman in S.A. and Victoria selling clothing, jewellery, saddlery etc. Worked in butcher’s shop, Narracoorte, S.A,  being part of committee that won Wednesday half-day holiday, 1879.
  • Secretary of Butchers’ Union in Adelaide, 1881-1882.
  • To Melbourne, where elected foundation secretary of Victorian Amalgamated Butchers’ Union, 5 May 1890 (changed its name to Australasian Meat Industry Employees' Union (AMIEU) in 1912). Remained Victorian Secretary until 1934.
  • First Federal President, AMIEU, 1906-1934.
  • Member of first Butchers’ Wages Board in Victoria, 1900.
  • One of first three union secretaries to occupy office space at Melbourne Trades Hall. Delegate and executive member, Melbourne Trades Hall Council.
  • Prominent in Anti-Sweating League;
  • Member and President, 1914, Eight Hours Day Committee.
  • Founder and secretary of Trades Hall Salaried Officers Association.
  • Also took interest in Secretaries Union and gave valuable service to ALP candidates during elections as scrutineer.
  • Tall and active, a cricketer in his youth. Dammed with faint praise by union historian who records, ‘In his later years Mr. Anderson was a man with somewhat fixed, conservative ideas, and because of this he was frequently the target for criticism by militant members of the Union’ and ‘As trade union secretaries go Carl Anderson was fair, average quality’.

Sources
Australian Worker
, 20 Feb 1914; 22 Feb 1922; Labor Year Book, 1934/5; Labor Call, 22 April 1914, 23 April 1914, 9 Feb 1922, 8 March 1934; Davis, 1974

Additional Resources

Citation details

'Anderson, Charles Henry (Carl) (1860–1934)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/anderson-charles-henry-carl-25502/text33845, accessed 29 March 2024.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Charles Anderson, 1914

Charles Anderson, 1914

Labor Call (Melbourne, Vic), 23 April 1914, p. 19

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • Andersen, Carl Henry
Birth

1 May, 1860
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Death

20 August, 1934 (aged 74)
Ringwood, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Education
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