Biography - John William Bailey

John William Bailey (1863–1936)

This article was published:

in the Biographical Register of the Australian Labour Movement, 1788-1975
online in 2022

John William Bailey (1863-1936) miner, trade union official

Birth: 30 April 1863 in Ripley, Derbyshire, England, son of John Bailey, coal miner, and his wife Jane, née Bridgett, who signed with a mark. Marriage: 25 January 1889 in Petersham, Sydney, with Methodist forms, to Betsy Morrey. They had six daughters and three sons. Death: 1 September 1936 at his residence, Sydney Street, Brown Hill, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Religion: Methodist.

Started work as a trapper boy in the coal mines aged 12.
Arrived in Sydney about 1885. To WA about 1896. Miners’ union official on WA Goldfields.
For many years a delegate to the Australian Labor Party.
Published his reminiscences “Sixty years underground” in instalments, in the Goldfields Observer (Kalgoorlie) in 1934.

Additional Resources and Scholarship

Sixty Years Underground, Goldfields Observer (Kalgoorlie, WA), 12 August 1934, p 8
Sixty Years Underground, Goldfields Observer (Kalgoorlie, WA), 19 August 1934, p 5
Sixty Years Underground, Goldfields Observer (Kalgoorlie, WA), 26 August 1934, p 7
Sixty Years Underground, Goldfields Observer (Kalgoorlie, WA), 2 September 1934, p 8
Sixty Years Underground, Goldfields Observer (Kalgoorlie, WA), 9 September 1934, p 8
Sixty Years Underground, Goldfields Observer (Kalgoorlie, WA), 16 September 1934, p 8
Sixty Years Underground, Goldfields Observer (Kalgoorlie, WA), 23 September 1934, p 7
Sixty Years Underground, Goldfields Observer (Kalgoorlie, WA), 30 September 1934, p 8
Sixty Years Underground, Goldfields Observer (Kalgoorlie, WA), 7 October 1934, p 8
Sixty Years Underground, Goldfields Observer (Kalgoorlie, WA), 14 October 1934, p 8

Citation details

'Bailey, John William (1863–1936)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/bailey-john-william-32412/text40197, accessed 10 May 2025.

Life Summary [details]

Birth

April, 1863
Ripley, Derbyshire, England

Death

1 September, 1936 (aged 73)
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, 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.

English

Religious Influence

Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

Methodist

Occupation or Descriptor

Political Activism

ALP (WA)

People Australia

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