People Australia

Christopher Alfred (Chris) Dalton (1896-1975) railway worker, trade union leader and politician 

Birth: 27 November 1896 at Teeyarra, near Mossgiel, New South Wales, son of native-born parents George Henry Dalton, teamster, and Mary, née Grintell. Marriage: 19 November 1920 to Rita Mary Jupp. They had one son. Death: 25 May 1975 in Sydney, NSW. Religion: Catholic. 

• Chris’s paternal great-parents were Irish-born convicts: Matthew Dalton (1809-1890) born in Dublin, and Jane Elizabeth Greer, born in Armagh. His maternal grandfather, Alfried Grintnell had been born in Prussia (Germany).
• Educated Marist Brothers' College, West Maitland, NSW. Became a bush worker.
• Having served in the militia, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 2 August 1916 at Dubbo, describing his occupation as “bushman”. Private Dalton joined the 13th Battalion and was wounded in action in France on 6 July 1917. After returning to Australia in January 1918, he was discharged on 9 April, medically unfit with trachoma.
• Employed in Railways Department, Chullora, Sydney. Active in Railway Workers' and General Labourers' Association of NSW before amalgamation with Australian Workers' Union. He was then associated in the City Construction and Permanent Way section of the Australian Workers' Union, representing it before arbitration court and Wages Board.
• Federal vice-president and NSW president of the AWU from 1933 to 1938, and delegate to NSW Trades and Labor Council.
• Director of Labor Papers Ltd from 1937. Member of the central executive of the Australian Labor Party 1941-43.
• Member of the Legislative Council of NSW from 20 July 1943 (casual vacancy) to 22 April 1970 (retired).
• Brother of Thomas William Dalton (1904-1981), member of the NSW Legislative Assembly.

Sources
Heather Radi, Peter Spearritt and Elizabeth Hinton, Biographical Register of the NSW Parliament 1901-1970 (Canberra, 1979).