People Australia

Archibald McInnes, n.d.

Archibald (Archie) McInnes (1875-1949) boilermaker, council chairman and trade union official

Birth: 10 March 1875 at Hamilton, Glasgow, Scotland, eldest child of John Hamilton McInnes (1847-1912), pit sinker, later machinist, and his first wife Margaret, née Baird (1852-1882), farm servant. Marriage: 22 October 1900 at Blyth, South Australia, to native-born Ida Dorothea Kuchenmeister (1876-1961). They had four sons and six daughters. Death: 10 July 1949 at Adelaide, SA; usual residence Johns Road, Prospect, Adelaide. 

• Came to South Australia in 1879. His father was a pioneer of the Labor movement in the colony and a horticulturist, specialising in carnations. Archie’s younger brother John (1878-1950) became secretary of the Liquor Trades Union, a member of parliament, Speaker of the House of Assembly and a government minister.
• Archie was assistant secretary of the Boilermakers’ Society, Adelaide branch, from 1899 to 1916; secretary (part-time) 1916-1928; secretary (full-time) from 1928 until 1943, when he retired due to ill-health.
• Filled most executive positions in his union. Represented branch at Conference, from 1902 to 1943 continuously. Assistant secretary to federal council 1913-1943.
• Delegate to Trades and Labour Council for 25 years. President 1913. Delegate to Metal Trades Council for 25 years; president for 2 years and secretary for 8 years.
• Delegate to Building Trades Council for 10 years. Member of the Apprentice Board for 22 years. With Dr Fenner pioneered introduction of technical training for apprentices in the SA Railways.
• Member of the Industrial Mission which investigated methods of production and working conditions in USA, 1927.
• Alderman and councillor, City of Prospect. Member of the SA Railways Royal Commission 1930-1931.
• Chairman of Directors of Starr Bowkett Building Society for 23 years. Honorary member of South Australian Centenary Executive Council 1936. Honorary member of SA Charities Control Committee 1938-1943. One of the original members of the SA Housing Trust from 1937 to 1947. Member of the Rent Control Board 1936-1943.
• Conducted proceedings before the State Wages Boards, Commonwealth Public Service Arbitrator and demarcation disputes affecting the branches in SA.
• Cause of death: uraemia, chronic nephritis, myocardial degeneration, arteriosclerosis and hypertension.

Sources
Boiler Makers’ Society of Australia, Quarterly Report, Vol. II No. 26 Oct. 1943; Australian Worker, 26 October 1927.