People Australia

Roy Stanley Jackson (1895-1964) shipwright, trade union leader and politician 

Birth: 2 September 1895 in Balmain, Sydney, New South Wales, son of Tasmanian born Henry William Jackson (1849-1935), union secretary, and his second wife Irish-born Mary Alphonse, née Bond (1867-1940). Marriage: 20 January 1917 at St Vincent’s church, Ashfield, NSW, to Eileen Mary, née Maher (1892-1978). They had two sons and two daughters. Death: 12 February 1964 at Lewisham, NSW. Religion: Catholic. 

• Educated at Gladstone Park Superior public school. Apprenticed at David Drake & Co, Balmain. In 1916 worked as a shipwright at the Government Dockyards, Walsh Island, Newcastle, NSW.
• Having served in the militia for six years, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in October 1916 and proceeded overseas in February 1917. Transferred to the Royal Australian Artillery and was a driver in 1st Divisional Ammunition Column, Middle East and France. Returned to Australia and was discharged in September 1919.
• Worked as shipwright at Department of Navy, Maritime Services Board, White’s, Morrison and Sinclair.
• Member of the Federated Shipwrights and Ship Constructors’ Association of Australia — trustee 1924-25, vice-president 1925-29, president 1928-34, NSW Secretary 1934-53 (succeeding Samuel Shearer), federal president 1931-36, federal general secretary 1936-54, industrial advocate 1937-53.
• Sometime president of Five Dock branch of the Australian Labor Party. Was Labor member of the Legislative Assembly for Drummoyne 1953-1956 (defeated). Contested Drummoyne in 1959.
• Delegate to Labor Council of NSW. Executive member of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
• Delegate to Shipwrights’ Apprenticeship Committee for several years. Member of the Shipwrights’ Dilution (Manpower) Committee 1941-46.
• Worked on relief committee during Depression. Director of Balmain Old Folks Club. Supporter of Boy Scouts and local church committees. Justice of the Peace.
• Cousin by marriage to fellow Labor politican Ray Septimus Maher.

Sources
Heather Radi, Peter Spearritt and Elizabeth Hinton, Biographical Register of the NSW Parliament 1901-1970 (Canberra, 1979); A.L.P. Year Book Australia Labor Party. New South Wales Branch, 1934-35 p 231