People Australia

Jack Praed, n.d.

John (Jack) Praed (1859-1908) miner, trade union official and mayor

Birth: 16 July 1860 at Marazion, Cornwall, England, son of Edward Praed (1834-1901), miner, and Grace, née Hunkin (1837-1908). Marriage: 1881 at Eaglehawk, Victoria, to native-born Emily Jane Keast (1861-1925). They had a daughter and a son. His widow remarried in 1909 [to James Eddy (1864-1921), a widower and a hotel keeper]. Death: 29 May 1908 at Eaglehawk, Bendigo, Victoria. Religion: the service conducted by Methodist, Anglican and Baptist ministers. The burial service of the Masonic and Oddfellows’ lodges were also read. 

• Arrived in Melbourne about 1868. Member, Amalgamated Miners' Association about 1893 and vice-president. Settled at Eaglehawk and worked as a miner until 1896.
• Elected general secretary of the Amalgamated Miners' Association of Victoria and Tasmania in 1896 and retained office until his death.
• Elected member of Eaglehawk Borough Council. Was mayor of Eaglehawk (Bendigo) from 1907 to his death. Appointed justice of the peace.
• Past master of Eaglehawk Masonic lodge. Past grand master of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
• A profile in the Worker in 1906 praised him as “a Napoleon of administrative detail” but admonished him for supporting Sir John Quick in the previous Federal election, instead of the Labor candidate; When Quick voted against union preference, however, Praed denounced him.
• Cause of death: double pneumonia (7 days).

Sources
H. J. Gibbney & Ann G. Smith, A Biographical Register 1788-1939, vol 2 (Canberra, 1987); Merrifield Card Index, State Library of Victoria; Labor Call Melbourne), 4 June 1908; Worker (Wagga), 22 March 1906, p 2.