People Australia

Peter Connolly (1890-1959) coalminer, ironworker, trade union leader and politician 

Birth: 8 May 1890 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, son of Luke Connolly, labourer, and Margaret, née McCue. Marriage: 5 February 1916 at Raymond Terrace, New South Wales, to Hannah Marie ‘May’ Campbell (1891-1961). They had four sons and three daughters. Death: 27 October 1959 in Newcastle, NSW. Religion: Catholic. 

• Worked in coal mines, then as ironworker.
• Secretary, Newcastle branch of Federated Ironworkers’ Association (FIA) from 1919 to 1927. FIA general secretary, 1925-28.
• Member Eight Hour Committee. Delegate to Newcastle Trades Hall Council.
• Employees representative on NSW Basic Wage Commission, 1926.
• Secretary of the Newcastle branch of the Australian Labor Party. President, Newcastle State and Federal electorate councils in 1920s.
• Employees’ representative on Board of Directors, Newcastle Hospital and Ambulance Board.
• Elected member of the Legislative Assembly for Newcastle on 8 October 1927. Held the seat until losing pre-selection to F. H. Hawkins in 1935.
• Again became secretary Newcastle FIA in 1935. Defeated by Communist Party of Australia’s R. C. Morgan in 1939.
• Became builder and contractor after leaving parliament.

Sources
Heather Radi, Peter Spearritt & Elizabeth Hinton, Biographical Register of the NSW Parliament 1901-1970 (Canberra, 1979); Labor Year Book, 1933, 1934/5; Labor News (Sydney), October 1959, p 2.