People Australia

William John (Billy) Miller (1887-1958) iron-moulder and trade union official 

Birth: 1887 at Collingwood, Melbourne, Victoria, son of native-born parents George Augustus Miller (1861-1923), iron-moulder, and Sarah Jane, née Sharp (1862-1941). Marriages: (1) 1914 at Fitzroy, Melbourne, to Sara Jean Western (1890-1914). (2) 1918 at Fitzroy, to Fanny Elsie Simms (1897-1944). They had one daughter. (3) 1954 at East Brunswick, to Kathleen Mary Carrick. Death: 17 June 1958 in his residence at Newman Street, Thornbury, Melbourne. 

• Joined Moulders’ union, Victorian branch, about 1908. Became a shop steward.
• Enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 5 November 1915. Was seriously wounded in action in France (gunshot wounds to legs and shoulders) serving with the 60th Battalion on 19 July 1916. Returned to Australia in April 1917 and was discharged medically unfit on 17 May 1917.
• President of the Federated Moulders’ Union (FMU), Victorian branch for fifteen years until 1938.
• Assistant secretary of the FMU from 1938 to 1945; secretary from 1945 to about 1959. Federal president in 1955.
• Delegate to Trades Hall Council for many years.
• Remembered as a forceful and competent speaker and a shrewd tactician.
• Cause of death: coronary thrombosis (immediate) and coronary sclerosis (indefinite).

Sources
Labor, August 1958; Australian Foundry Worker, July 1958 p 5, October 1958, p 6.