People Australia

Jack Hamilton, 1916

Sydney Mail, 18 October 1916, p 7

John (Jack) Hamilton (c.1874-1939) gaoled IWW official, miner, painter and Communist supporter 

Birth: c.1874 in Victoria. Never married. Death: 7 September 1939 in district hospital, Kogarah, Sydney, New South Wales. No religion. 

• Held official positions in the Industrial Workers of the World. Arrested at the IWW premises, Sussex Street, Sydney, on 23 September 1916.
• One of the “IWW twelve” jailed for their IWW activities. On the charge of conspiracy to commit arson, was sentenced by judge R D. Pring to fifteen years hard labour. Following public agitation and an inquiry by judge N. K. Ewin, Hamilton was released on 3 August 1920.
• Supporter of the Communist Party of Australia but not a member of the party.
• In 1920s said to be a fisherman on the north coast of NSW.
• Towards the end of his life his health deteriorated and he became partially blind. Cause of death: cerebral haemorrhage and arteriosclerosis.
• Given a Red funeral.

Sources
obituary, Tribune, No.4, 12 September 1939, p 3.