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Veronica Alicia (Vera) McDonald (1904–1991)

This article was published:

Veronica Alicia (Vera) McDonald (1904-1991) stenographer and trade union employee

Birth: 1904 at Redfern, New South Wales, and registered as Alicia Veronica daughter of Irish-born Thomas Joseph McDonald (1857-1937), a law clerk, from Queen’s County, and Ellen, née Casey (1866-1951), from Limerick. Unmarried. Death: 5 September 1991 at Whitehall Nursing Home, Lindfield, Sydney. Religion: Catholic. 

  • Appears as Veronica Alicia McDonald in electoral rolls. Worked as a stenographer in Sydney commercial offices in the 1930s, then as a temporary office worker with the Federated Clerks’ Union.
  • Commenced work as a clerical assistant in the Coal and Shale Miners Federation central office, Sydney, in 1938. She worked continuously for the federation for forty years.
  • Assisted federation representatives on various state inquiries, including Royal Commissions on mine safety and pensions (1939-1940). Retired in 1978.
  • Death was registered as Veronica Alicia; cause of death: liver cancer.
  • Two of her brothers served in the Australian Imperial Force in World War I; one of them, gunner John Joseph McDonald (1896-1918) an insurance clerk, died on 8 October 1918 of wounds received in action in France. The second, Thomas Francis (Frank) (1897-1933), a clerk, was wounded in action in France on 29 September 1918; he committed suicide by jumping from the Sydney Harbour Bridge on 17 March 1933.

Sources
Common Cause, 15 November 1978.

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Citation details

'McDonald, Veronica Alicia (Vera) (1904–1991)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/mcdonald-veronica-alicia-vera-34915/text44009, accessed 14 March 2025.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Birth

1904
Redfern, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Death

5 September, 1991 (aged ~ 87)
Lindfield, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Cause of Death

cancer (liver)

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Religious Influence

Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

Occupation or Descriptor
Workplaces