People Australia

John Chandler, by Dick Ovenden, 1923

Labor Call (Melbourne), 8 February 1923, p 4

John William Collins (Jack) Chandler (1869-1959) gold miner, engine-driver and trade union leader 

Birth: 1869 at Barnawatha, Victoria, son of Charles Joseph Chandler (1834-1907), a butcher, born in Collingbourne Dulcis, Wiltshire, England, and native-born Sarah Ellen (Nellie), née Nippress (1844-1915). Marriage: 9 May 1904 at Midland, Western Australia, to native-born Ada Emily Russell (1874-1965). They had one daughter and two sons. Death: 4 October 1959 at Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria. 

• Left Melbourne to become gold miner in Western Australia in the 1890s. In 1905 moved to Perth and became first president of Perth Engine drivers and Firemen’s Association.
• Returned to Melbourne where in 1912 was elected president of Victorian branch of the Engine drivers and Firemen’s Union. 1913 assistant secretary and organiser and from 1916 to 1931 secretary and organiser of the EFU. Federal president 1920.
• Delegate to Melbourne Trades Hall Council.
• Active member of Australian Labor Party; was a pioneer member of the North Fitzroy branch. A member of the North Fitzroy Progress Association, he was Labor candidate for Fitzroy council in May 1917 and August 1924. In July 1927 he was appointed justice of the peace. He was an unsuccessful candidate for preselection for the seat of Clifton Hill in the Legislative Assembly in April 1934.

Sources
Australian Worker (Sydney), 21 February 1923, p 9 [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/145798842]; Safety Valve, December 1959.