People Australia

Malcolm MacKinnon (1883-1959) school teacher and trade union official

Birth: 29 August 1883 at Ballina, New South Wales, son of Ewen MacKinnon (1846-1919), sugar mill manager, and Elizabeth, née Sharpe (1864-1939). Marriage: 4 January 1911 at Newtown, Sydney, NSW, to Lucy Gladys Rotton (1884-1970). They had one daughter and two sons. Death: 6 November 1959 in hospital at Gordon, Sydney; usual residence Latona Street, West Pymble, Sydney. Religion: Congregational. 

• Founding member of the Teachers’ Federation. Member of first salaries committee which negotiated 1920 Salaries Award and was the first determination to provide teachers with a reasonably appropriate remuneration.
• Left Sydney and became headmaster in country high schools from 1922, including Wagga Wagga, Grafton, and Maitland. Returned to Sydney in 1934 and became headmaster of Sydney Technical High School.
• Elected vice-president of the NSW Teachers’ Federation (NSWTF) in 1934; deputy president in 1935-1936; president 1937-39; deputy president 1940-1942.
• President of Secondary Teachers’ Association. Representative of Secondary Teachers’ Association on Board of Secondary School Studies.
• Active life member of NSWTF 1936. Retired in 1947.
• His term as president is said to be characterised by: “growth of education-consciousness in the community, the building of Federation House, the development of the case for a Teachers’ Certificate, considerably increased membership, and the clarifying of the Federation’s aims and purposes”.
• Member of the Senate of University of Sydney for six years.
• Cause of death: cerebral haemorrhage (15 days).

Sources
Education, 17 February 1937 p 88, 22 February 1940 p 104; 21 May 1940 p 196, 23 May 1944, 25 May 1946, 20 May 1947, 24 January 1948, 18 November 1959, 9 December 1959.