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George Michael Hooper (1875–1941)

This article was published:

George Hooper, n.d.

George Hooper, n.d.

George Michael Hooper (1875-1941) Switch board attendant, electrician, trade union official and mayor

Birth: 10 October 1875 at Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, son of Henry Richard Hooper (b.1847), bootmaker, born at Misterton, Somerset, England, and Margaret Teresa, née O’Brien (b.1851), born in County Clare, Ireland. Marriage: 1901 at Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, to native-born Ada Christine Cox (1876-1965). They had four daughters. Death: 5 November 1941 in Royal Melbourne Hospital; usual residence Barkly street, West Brunswick. 

  • Switch board attendant at Theatre Royal and King’s Theatre, Melbourne. Member of first Electrical Workers’ Association in 1902 and later president and life honorary member of the Victorian branch of the Electrical Trades Union.
  • Foundation member and federal president of Theatrical Employees’ Association (TEA). President of the Victorian branch of the TEA until his death. Served as his union’s delegate, wages board representative and returning officer.
  • Was president, vice president, treasurer and federal councillor of the Australian Labor Party.
  • Councillor for south-west ward, on Brunswick City Council for over twenty years (1921-1941). Mayor of Brunswick on two occasions (Labor) — in 1922-1923 and 1933-1934. A bulky man, he remarked that if he had been a good mayor “it was because he always carried his ‘Corporation’ around with him.”
  • Contested East Melbourne State electorate twice.
  • Employment with Electrical Supply Department of Melbourne City Council. Organiser for the Municipal Employees’ Union until his death.
  • Appointed justice of the peace by 1923. He was sometime treasurer of Carlton Football Club, and served on its committee for many years. At his death he was president of the Brunswick Municipal Band.
  • Cause of death: coronary occlusion (days), haematemesis (days) and gastric ulcer (years).

Sources
Labor Call, 13 November 1941; Electrical Trades Journal, 28 November 1941 p 14; ALP Victorian Branch Central Executive Report, 1942.

Additional Resources

  • photo, Brunswick and Coburg Leader (Vic), 27 July 1923, p 1

Related Entries in NCB Sites

Citation details

'Hooper, George Michael (1875–1941)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/hooper-george-michael-34028/text42667, accessed 8 October 2024.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012