People Australia

Caswell Crannaford, n.d.

Albert Caswell Crannaford, also known as ‘Caswell’ Crannaford (1881-1949) city council employee and trade union official 

Birth: 17 April 1881 at Thebarton, South Australia, son of English-born parents, William John Crannaford (1848-1916), a carpenter, from Buckfastleigh, Devon, and Lydia Ann, née Whittingham (1849-1928), from Portsea Island, Hampshire. Marriage: 26 November 1902 at the Baptist manse, Broken Hill, New South Wales, to native-born Louisa Florence ‘Babs’ Lovett (1886-1972). They had two daughters and three sons; two of the children died in infancy. Death: 28 January 1949 in hospital at Broken Hill. Religion: Methodist. 

• Moved to Broken Hill, NSW, about 1901. Worked as a labourer, later as a second-hand dealer, a carter and an engine-driver.
• Member of the Federated Engine Drivers and Firemen Association for many years.
• Elected president of Barrier Carters' Union in 1913. Member of the Town Employees' Union from 1921 and president from 1923 to 1927. Later also served as vice-president. Represented the Town Employees' Union on Trades Hall Trust for three years.
• For many years lived at Railway Town, Broken Hill, and at elections worked as scrutineer for the Australian Labor Party on the polling booth there. Wife was a member of the Ladies Branch of the ALP.
• In 1942 he was a gardener in the Central Reserve. Retired in about 1946.
• Crannaford and his wife were long-standing and active members of the United Ancient Order of Druids (UAOD). His wife was a member of the Queen Boadicea Lodge (Female) No. 29. Arch Druid Crannaford was active in the Railway Alma Lodge UAOD and was superintendent of the Barry Juvenile Druids Lodge. He was also a member of the Adelaide branch of the Rechabite Lodge.
• His two surviving sons — Albert John ‘Bert (1908-2004), and Maxwell James ‘Bob’(1922-2003) — served in the Royal Australian Air Force in World War II.

Sources
Barrier Daily Truth, 17 December 1926.