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Rochfort Charles Paynter (1856–1926)

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Rochfort Charles Paynter (1856-1926) ganger and trade union official 

Birth: 1856 at Collingwood, Melbourne, Victoria, son of John Bateman Paynter (1821-1903), barrister, born at St Columb, Cornwall, England, and Ellen Jane, née Mullen, born at Wicklow, Ireland. Marriage: 1882 at South Yarra, Victoria, to Mary Kennedy (1860-1940). They had four daughters and five sons. Death: 31 October 1926 in Sydney Hospital; late of Garfield Street, Kogarah, Sydney. Religion: Anglican. 

  • Lived in Victoria until about 1887 then moved to Hay, in New South Wales. From about 1889 lived at Rockdale, Sydney.
  • Loyalist ganger and assisted E. D. Campbell to form a new railway union as they were dissatisfied with the existing union. Unhappy about the Amalgamated Railway and Tramway Service Association's treatment of fellow permanent way workers prior to the 1917 strike.
  • Became foundation State secretary of the Permanent Way and Signalling Branches' Association, which later amalgamated with the Association of Employees (Mechanical Branch) and became the Railway Service Association (and later again the National Union of Railwaymen and Tramwaymen). General secretary and organiser of the NSW Permanent Way and Signalling Branch Association.
  • Paynter took a great interest in friendly society work and was secretary of the Queen’s Jubilee Lodge, Protestant Alliance Friendly Society of Australasia, Rockdale, for many years. Was presented by the society with a gold medal, which he reported lost in August 1908, and a watch, which he reported stolen in June 1916.
  • Cause of death: effects of injuries accidentally received through falling at Central Railway Station whilst attempting to board a train in motion [Coroner’s inquest].
  • In November 1927 a memorial stone to his memory was erected in Woronora Cemetery, erected by the Railway Permanent Way Association.

Sources
Railway and Tramway Officers' Gazette, 20 November 1926, p 16; Railway Advocate, 12 Novemer 1932, p 2, 20 February 1940, p 10; Patmore, A history of industrial relations in the NSW Government Railways (PhD thesis University of Sydney, 1985), p 353.

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Citation details

'Paynter, Rochfort Charles (1856–1926)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/paynter-rochfort-charles-34594/text43494, accessed 4 December 2024.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Birth

1856
Collingwood, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Death

31 October, 1926 (aged ~ 70)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Cause of Death

train accident

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