People Australia

John Prisk, n.d.

John Prisk (1830-1912) miner, engine driver and trade union official

Birth: 2 July 1830 at Camborne, Cornwall, England, son of Thomas Prisk (1798-1843), miner, and Phillipa, née Richards (1797-1882). Marriages: (1) 5 January 1853 at Tuckinghill, Cornwall, England, to Eliza Harris (1834-1857). They had one daughter and two sons. (2) 24 June 1858 at Kooringa, South Australia, to his first wife’s sister, Caroline, née Harris, late Bartley (1831-1914), born at St Agnes Cornwall, a widow with one surviving son. They had six sons, all of whom died as infants and a daughter who died in childhood. Death: 24 May 1912 in his residence at Ellen Street, Moonta, SA. Religion: Methodist. 

• Was a tin miner living with his widowed mother at Camborne in 1851.
• Arrived in Australia with his wife in 1853. Worked as a miner. Lived in Adelaide, Kooringa and Moonta, South Australia.
• Co-leader of Miners' Union formed after the 'Great Strike' of 1874 of Moonta.
• For many years he successfully managed the miners’ co-operative store, on Blyth Terrace.
• Cause of death: senile decay and heart failure (sudden).

Sources
J. Jupp (ed), The Australian People, 1988 p.331; Biographical Register of SA, 1836-1885.