People Australia

Frank Jones, caricature, 1925

Cessnock Eagle (NSW), 18 August 1925, p 5

Francis Henry (Frank) Jones (1891-1948) shotfirer, trade union official and deputy mayor 

Birth: November 1891 at Newhall, Derbyshire, England, son of William Jones (1868-1929) coal miner, and Ruth, née Commander (1869-1950). Marriage: 5 August 1918 at the register office, Oldham, Lancashire, England, to Sarah Wild (b.1897), cotton cordroom hand. They had three sons and one daughter. Death: 18 December 1948 at his work-place, Abermain No 2 Mine, Aberdare, NSW; usual residence: Northcote street, Aberdare. Religion: buried with Anglican rites. 

• Frank was a sub deputy miner at Wombwell, Yorkshire, West Riding, in 1911.
• Emigrated to Australia in 1913, arriving at Sydney aboard the Irishman with other family members on 25 November. Worked at Stockton Borehole colliery, Newcastle, NSW. Joined Mercantile Marine, about 1914 and served during WWI.
• Was a munition worker, living at Chadderton, Oldham, England, at his marriage, presumably having returned as a seaman and gone ashore to engage in war work. He was described as an Australian war worker when he left Plymouth for Sydney aboard the SS Marathon on 7 November 1918.
• After a few years at Boolaroo, on Lake Macquarie, he moved to the Cessnock district in April 1922. Worked at Abermain No. 2 Colliery, NSW. Was treasurer of Abermain, No. 2 Lodge for many years and was secretary from about 1930 until his death. Lodge official for about twenty years. Secretary of J. and A. Brown, Abermain and Seaham Collieries’ Merger Committee.
• For a long period he was secretary of the Cessnock and district unemployed and relief workers, responsible for a successful social service scheme, particularly during the Depression of the 1930s. “By personal contact with the different Government departments, he was able to procure for the unemployed over 2,000 sets of dentures, 2,500 sets of spectacles, and 2,000 railway passes for dental treatment.”
• In the 1940s he was a member of the Cessnock Hospital board of directors. Served two terms from 1944 as alderman on Cessnock Municipal Council and was deputy mayor in 1948. Secretary of Australian Labor Party Cessnock branch for many years.
• He played soccer football from 1913 to 1935, first with Wallsend, then for Cessnock and Kearsley and was an outstanding player, representing NSW on several occasions. President of South Maitland Soccer Football Association. Also vice-president of the Vigoro Association.
• His wife, a prominent local nurse, had a private hospital at Aberdare and was a supporter of the local branch of the Miners’ Womens’ Auxiliary.
• Cause of death: valvular disease of the heart.
• His father William, who had served with the Royal Navy for twelve years, had enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 24 August 1915 and joined the 2nd Battalion in Egypt on 8 January but was invalided to Australia, suffering from rheumatism, and discharged unfit on 19 June 1916. He re-enlisted in the miners’ reinforcements on the same day and served in No. 1 Tunnelling Company in France. Again admitted to hospital, suffering from myalgia, he was again invalided to Australia and discharged medically unfit on 9 June 1917.

Sources
Common Cause, 22 January 1949 p 10.