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John Davis (Jack) Garland (1922–1993)

This article was published:

John Garland, n.d.

John Garland, n.d.

John Davis (Jack) Garland (1922-1993) toolmaker, trade union official and parliamentarian

Birth: 8 April 1922 at Kensington, Sydney, New South Wales, son of English-born parents John Garland (1882-1952), a bricklayer, from Thetford, Thelnetham, Suffolk, England, and Florence, née Davis (1881-1962), from London.  Marriage: 5 February 1944 at St Mary’s Anglican Church, Waverley, Sydney, to native-born Winifred Georgina Brewis (1921-2016). They had three sons. Death: 3 September 1993 in hospital at Darlinghurst, Sydney; usual residence O’Dowd street, Waverley, Sydney. 

  • Toolmaker at Austral Bronze in Sydney from about 1947 to 1957.
  • National secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering Union in 1957 and held the position until 1972 when the AEU, Boilermakers & Blacksmiths Society of Australia and Sheet Metal Workers Union amalgamated. Was then joint national secretary of Australian Metal Workers’ Union from 1972 until 1980 (resigned).
  • Joined Australian Labor Party about 1950.
  • Became an elected member of the Legislative Council of NSW on 27 October 1981. Retired on 9 April 1990.
  • Member of the NSW Australian Labor Party central executive for twenty-five years including vice-president. Represented NSW as delegate to National Conference on several occasions.
  • Delegate to NSW Labor District delegate, branch officer and delegate to Australian Council of Trade Unions Congress.
  • Life member ALP NSW branch in 1990, nominated by the Administrative Committee.
  • Involved in Aboriginal welfare and the Workers’ Educational Association.
  • Cause of death: metastatic carcinoma of lung.

Sources
Metal Worker, November 1981; AMWSU Quarterly Journal, October-December 1981.

Citation details

'Garland, John Davis (Jack) (1922–1993)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/garland-john-davis-jack-33801/text42320, accessed 10 December 2023.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

John Garland, n.d.

John Garland, n.d.

Life Summary [details]

Birth

8 April, 1922
Kensington, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Death

3 September, 1993 (aged 71)
Darlinghurst, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Cause of Death

cancer (lung)

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
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