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Frederick Herbert (Fred) Jeans (1902–1968)

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Frederick Herbert (Fred) Jeans (1902-1968) ironworker, trade union official 

Birth: 1 November 1902 at Muswellbrook, New South Wales, son of native-born parents Herbert Henry Jeans (1862-1952), labourer, and his second wife Rachel Jane, née Bennetts (1881-1920). Marriage: 30 August 1923 at Muswellbrook to native-born Lucy Isbella Osborne (1904-1991). They had one daughter and two sons. Death: 23 October 1968 at Wallsend Hospital, Wallsend, Newcastle, NSW. Religion: Anglican. 

  • Worked at Newcastle Steelworks from about 1924 to 1949. An organiser for the Federated Ironworkers’ Association (FIA) Newcastle branch from 1949. State Vice-president.
  • Member of the Mayfield branch of the Australian Labor Party and played a leading role in the ALP gaining control of FIA, in 1948-1950. President of Newcastle May Day committee briefly in 1951. Unsuccessfully contested election to Newcastle City Council in December 1953.
  • Delegate, to national conference of the FIA. Delegate to International Labour Office conference, 1963. Granted life membership of the FIA. Retired in 1967.
  • Prominent in his local community. Promoted junior grade football in the Newcastle district and “energetic president” of Mayfield East Rugby Union Club in the 1940s. Secretary of Islington Bowling Club. Founder and president of Amateur Sporting Club, Mayfield East.

Sources
Labor News, October - November 1968.

Citation details

'Jeans, Frederick Herbert (Fred) (1902–1968)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/jeans-frederick-herbert-fred-34101/text42765, accessed 26 April 2025.

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