People Australia

Timothy William McCristal (1881-1963) tram conductor, trade unionist, Socialist farmer and serial parliamentary candidate. 

Birth: 24 March 1881 at Bellinger River, New South Wales, son of native-born parents John Thomas McCristal (1849-1907), sawyer, and Mary Ann, née Byrnes (1855-1933). Marriages: (1) 14 October 1903 at the Methodist Church, Surry Hills, Sydney, to native-born Kathleen Carney (1881-1910). They had one son. (2) 1921 at Sydney to Ethel Florence Mackay Davis (1895-1969). The marriage ended in divorce. (3) 29 March 1933 at the District Registrar’s Office at Glebe, Sydney, to Fanny Hughes (1894-1974), a widow, born at Sale, Cheshire, England. Death: 24 June 1963 in hospital at Concord, usual residence Hercules Street, East Fairfield. Religion: Catholic.

• Served for twelve months in the Irish Rifles, prior to service for fifteen months in South Africa, in the 2nd Mounted Rifles during the Boer War.
• Was a tram conductor in Sydney at his marriage in 1903.
• Was a labourer at Camperdown, Sydney, and a widower with a child when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 24 August 1914.
• Served at Gallipoli with the 1st Light Horse Regiment and was wounded at Lone Pine in August 1915. Returned to Sydney in March 1916 and was discharged medically unfit on 28 June 1916. Granted pension £3 per fortnight for himself and £1 per fortnight from 29 June 1916, amended to 45 shillings per fortnight for himself plus 15 shillings per fortnight for his son from 24 May 1917.
• Active in Returned Soldiers No-Conscription League.
• President, Sydney Wharf-Labourers’ Union (both pre-and-post war?). Expelled from NSW RSA in 1916 because of his anti-conscription activities (despite being seen as a possible RSA president earlier that year). Gaoled for sedition in 1917.
• Socialist candidate for Cook (NSW) 1919.
• Ran for both the Federal House of Representatives and the NSW Legislative Assembly at a series of elections under various party names, including the Australian Republican Party.
• Late in life was a farmer at Sidebottom, Stoney Creek, via Taree.
• Cause of death: broncho pneumonia and diabetes mellitus.

Sources
Information from Terry King 1991; correspondence from Peter Browne.