People Australia

William Morrissey, 1915

Herald (Melbourne), 1 May 1915, p 4

William Laurence Morrissey (1866-1920) railway guard and trade union official 

Birth: 27 July 1866 at Sebastopol, Ballarat, Victoria, son of Irish-born parents Michael Morrissey (1838-1885), a miner, from Dunhill, County Waterford, and Mary, née Toohey (1838-1885), from County Tipperary. Marriage: 4 June 1890 at South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria, to native-born Catherine (Kate) Fields (1867-1938), a tailoress. They had three daughters and three sons. Death: 19 November 1920 in his home at Nicholson Street, South Yarra, Melbourne. 

• Employed by railway service from about 1885. Worked as a guard from 1893 and continued in this role to 1915 at least when he worked in Flinders Street.
• Became prominent in the Guards’ and Shunters’ Association which, together with other smaller railway unions, became the Federated Railway Traffic and Transport Association of Australia. Became secretary of its metropolitan branch. Later was assistant secretary and afterwards treasurer of the association.
• The Victorian Railways’ Union was formed in 1911 by a general linking up of railway organisations, and Morrissey became councillor. Was re-elected each year until 1918 when he retired. Vice-president in 1914 and general president of the union in 1916-1918 (retired), which had 12,000 to 13,000 members in 1915.
• Cause of death [verdict at inquest]: gunshot wound in the body self-inflicted while in a condition of mental depression.

Sources
Labor Call, 2 December 1920 p 7; Railways Union Gazette, 20 May 1915 p 11.