People Australia

James Porter, n.d.

James Joseph ('Splinter') Porter (1880-1972) railway worker, miner and trade union official

Birth: 1889 at Blayney, New South Wales, son of John Porter (1856-1934), labourer, born at Enniskillen, Fermanagh, Ireland, and Margaret Ann, née Turner (1861-1937) born at Clunes, Victoria. Marriage: 11 December 1912 at Adelaide, South Australia, to Lucinda Mary (Lucy) Lack (1879-1965), born at Bridgenorth, Tasmania. They had two daughters and two sons. Death: 24 July 1972 at Royal South Sydney Hospital, Zetland, Sydney; usual residence Morehead Street, Redfern, Sydney. Religion: buried with Catholic rites. 

• Foundation member of Railway Workers and General Laborers' Association in Clarence Ridding in 1907 in NSW. Prominent in bringing about affiliation of Railway Workers and General Laborers' Association with Australian Workers’ Union. Vice-president of the Federated Mining Employees' Association 1915-1916 in Cadra.
• Moved to Broken Hill, NSW. Employed as a miner from 1911. Member of the Workers’ Industrial Union of Australia. President of British Mine checkweighers about 1919. Representative of WIUofA on Barrier Industrial Council and Barrier District Assembly of the Australian Labor Party (BDA ALP). Vice-president in 1923 and president in 1926 of the BDA ALP. Attended Assembly meetings, deputations and conferences. Workers nominee for position of chairman of Joint Compensation Committee in 1926.
• Caretaker and librarian at Mechanics Institution, South Broken Hill in 1926.
• In 1930 with E. P. O’Neill was a representative of the Municipal Employees Union. Resigned from Broken Hill City Council employment in October 1953.
• Retired to Redfern, Sydney, and was a pensioner at his death.
• His two sons enlisted in the Australian Military Forces in World War II. Reginald James Porter, (1914-1993), a miner, served in the 14th Field Regiment, and John Roderick Porter (1921-1987), a labourer, served in the 2nd Australian Field Ambulance.
• Cause of death: broncho pneumonia and ischaemic heart disease (coroner’s report).

Sources
Barrier Daily Truth (Broken Hill), 17 December 1926.