People Australia

Leslie Robert Magnus (Bob) McGovern (also known as Robert Leslie McGovern (1893-1968) railway engine driver and trade union official 

Birth: 10 May 1893 at Stuart Town, Wellington, New South Wales, son of native-born parents John McGovern (1845-1919), labourer, and his second wife Mary, née Cowper (1869-1952). Marriage: 1917 at Cobar, NSW, to Emily Maude Mathews (1895-1970), born at Bourke, NSW. They had four daughters and one son. Death: 8 June 1968 in Dubbo Base Hospital, usual residence Wellington Road, Dubbo, NSW. Religion: Anglican. 

• Joined railway service at Nyngan in Western District, NSW, in 1916. Participated in strike in August 1917 and was dismissed then reinstated after the strike finished in October 1917.
• Joined Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen (AFULE) and the Australian Labor Party about 1921. Transferred to Dubbo 1922;
• Appointed fireman at Binnaway in 1924. Branch secretary of the union at Binnaway. Active in ALP.
• Transferred to Dubbo in 1931 and became branch secretary of the ALP. Union representative for Binnaway and later Dubbo at divisional conferences. Active in Trades and Labor Council in Dubbo until his retirement in 1955. Was secretary of the Six-Hour Centenary Committee in 1949 which organised a successful sports day and procession.
• Continued links with trade unions and the ALP in retirement. Gained life membership, AFULE in 1966.
• Nominated for election to Dubbo Municipal Council in 1943, 1947 and 1950. Member of the North Dubbo Progress Association for many years. Life member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
• Cause of death: cerebral haemorrhage, atherosclerotic vascular disease, previous cerebral thrombosis.

Sources
Locomotive Journal, 13 June 1968, p 10.