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John Harold Brown (1886–1974)

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John Brown, n.d.

John Brown, n.d.

John Harold Brown (1886-1974) tram driver, union official, and politician 

Birth: 2 June 1886 in Winkleigh, Tasmania, son of Tasmanian-born parents John Waddel Brown (1857-1912), farmer, and Mary Ellen, nee Brown (1865-1932). Marriage: 2 December 1914 in Hobart to Tasmanian-born Emma Luisa Crow (1878-1978). They had two daughters. Death: 9 May 1974, in Hobart. Religion: Methodist. 

  • Educated to primary school level at Beaconsfield. worked on Hobart Tramways. Secretary, Hobart Branch of Australian Tramway and Motor Omnibus Employees’ Association from 1915.
  • Secretary, Munitions Employees Union; Secretary, Municipal Employees’ Union; President, Advisory Council Trade Unions, Tasmania.
  • Contested seat in the Australian Senate in 1940.
  • Elected as Australian Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for Franklin by recount following the death of Edward Brooker. Defeated on 2 August 1948. His seven weeks term was the shortest term of any member of the House.
  • Retired as the Tramways union secretary in 1952. Member of the Orpheus choir and the Tramway cricket club.
  • Blind in later years, was a member of the Blind Society, Hobart.

Sources
Scott Bennett and Barbara Bennett, Biographical Register of the Tasmanian Parliament 1851-1960 (Canberra, 1980).

Citation details

'Brown, John Harold (1886–1974)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/brown-john-harold-32824/text40836, accessed 14 March 2025.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

John Brown, n.d.

John Brown, n.d.

Life Summary [details]

Birth

2 June, 1886
Winkleigh, Tasmania, Australia

Death

9 May, 1974 (aged 87)
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

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.

Occupation or Descriptor
Key Organisations
Political Activism
Workplaces