People Australia

Jack Lenehan, n.d.

John (Jack) Lenehan (1864-1933) carpenter and trade union official

Birth: 1864 at Dublin, Ireland, eldest child of Joseph Anthony Lenehan (or Lenihan) (1842-1918), carpenter, later contractor, and Marguerite, née Hunt (1844-1906). Marriage: 5 February 1890 at Brisbane, Queensland, to Helen (Ellen) Murray (1861-1953). They had one daughter and three sons. Death: 7 April 1933 in his residence ‘Locomo’ at Alma Street, Hurstville, New South Wales. Religion: Buried with Catholic rites. 

• Arrived in Moreton Bay, Queensland, with his parents and siblings aboard the Indus on 21 July 1870. Learnt trade of mechanic under the supervision of his father, who served as a sergeant in the Boer War.
• Moved to Sydney and joined the Progressive Society of Carpenters and Joiners about 1891. He was president for two terms (1900-1901 and 1909-1911) organiser in 1914 and 1916 and secretary in 1920.
• Member of the Eight-Hour Committee from 1897 to at least 1927.
• Represented union on Eight-Hour Celebration Committee, 1900. Member of Committee of Organised Trades and in 1898 consultation delegate between mechanical trade and employers.
• Trustee of the Trades Hall Association. Received Order of Merit for work in Benefit Society.
• His son Lance Corporal Anthony Lenehan (1892-1917), a boilermaker with the NSW government railways, died on 2 March 1917 of wounds received in action at the Somme, France, serving with the 17th Battalion.
• After the amalgamation of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners with the Progressive Society of Carpenters and Joiners, Lenehan was appointed secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners of Australasia, NSW branch, in April 1921. Defeated by Arthur Watson in December 1928.
• Longstanding resident of Hurstville, in Sydney. Past grandmaster and trustee of the Loyal St George Lodge, Manchester Unity Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Hurstville.
• Cause of death: sarcoma of rib.

Sources
Labor Daily (Sydney), 13 January 1927, p 7; Official Souvenir for the Eight-Hour Demonstration, 1900.