People Australia

Francis Patrick (Pat) Buckley (1894-1971) barber, union organiser and Labor politician

Birth: 25 September 1894 in Dubbo, New South Wales, son of native-born parents Timothy Buckley (1852-1934), woolclasser, and Amelia ‘Mini’, née West (1854-1938). Marriage: 7 May 1919 at St Peters, Sydney, New South Wales, to Ethel Mary Dunn. They had sons and daughters. Death: 3 April 1971 at Kirribilli, NSW. Religion: Catholic. 

• Educated at Cobar convent school. Apprenticed hairdresser to M. A. Davidson in Cobar, where joined Australian Labor Party in 1911 aged 17.
• 1911 family moved to Sydney. Active in Hairdressers and Wigmakers Employees’ Union; vice-president 1919; president 1920; organiser 1922-42; secretary 1942-53.
• Active in local government and business circles; alderman, Marrickville Council, 1925-48 and Mayor, 1942-43; alderman, Sydney City Council, 1950-53. Precluded from becoming Lord Mayor of Sydney City Council by casting vote of Labor Caucus returning officer.
• Member, central executive ALP, 1943-52; NSW vice-president, 1946-52; NSW president, May-June 1952.
• Member of the NSW Legislative Council from 1946 to 1954. Minister for Mines, September 1953 to June 1954.
• NSW Agent General in London, 1954-1965. Appointed CBE 1959.
• Charitable worker for Sacred Heart Hospice. Foundation member of Marrickville Businessmen’s Club, member of Marrickville Hospital Board. Keen sportsperson and enthusiastic golfer. Helped to establish rugby league in Marrickville district. Dabbled in horse racing.

Sources
Labor Daily (Sydney), 13 Jan 1927; Hairdressers and Beauty Culture Trade Journal, June 1971; Richard I. Cashman and Chrys Meader, Marrickville: rural outpost to inner city (Annandale, 1990); Heather Radi, Peter Spearritt and Elizabeth Hinton, Biographical Register of the NSW Parliament 1901-1970 (Canberra, 1979); information from Mary Eilerson (check), Maroubra, 1989