People Australia

  • searches all National Centre of Biography websites
  • searches all National Centre of Biography websites
  • searches all National Centre of Biography websites

Browse People:

Browse Lists:

Cultural Advice

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website contains names, images, and voices of deceased persons.

In addition, some articles contain terms or views that were acceptable within mainstream Australian culture in the period in which they were written, but may no longer be considered appropriate.

These articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Australian National University.

Older articles are being reviewed with a view to bringing them into line with contemporary values but the original text will remain available for historical context.

Frederick George Cornish (1879–1959)

This article was published:

Frederick George Cornish, known as George (c1879-1959) driver and trade union official 

Birth: 1879 at Richmond, Victoria, son of English-born parents John Cornish (1821-1882), a copper-miner, then butcher later merchant, from Gwennap, Cornwall, and his second wife Sarah Ann, née Brimblecombe (1843-1907) from Plymouth, Devon. Marriage: 1902 in Victoria to Mary Jane Johnson (1878-1940). They had three daughters. Death: 5 June 1959 at Malvern, Victoria. 

  • Fourteenth of his father’s sixteen children born between 1844 and 1882 — six by his first wife, ten by his second — George was aged only 3 when his father stopped breathing.
  • Horse and cart/lorry driver for H. A. Ward and chief driver for J. and T. Edmonds, potato carriers, Melbourne.
  • From 1903 a member of the Port Melbourne branch of Transport Workers’ Union; Melbourne branch executive officer.
  • Elected organiser for the TWU from 1924, specialising in problems of milk carters in Melbourne. Assistant secretary 1944-46.
  • Member of the Malvern branch of Australian Labor Party.

Sources
The Union Carter, September 1938, February 1946.

Additional Resources and Scholarship

Citation details

'Cornish, Frederick George (1879–1959)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/cornish-frederick-george-33161/text41366, accessed 5 December 2024.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Birth

1879
Richmond, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Death

5 June, 1959 (aged ~ 80)
Malvern, Melbourne, Victoria, 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.

Occupation or Descriptor
Key Organisations
Political Activism