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Richard Ernest (Dick) Quintrell (1886–1945)

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Richard Ernest (Dick) Quintrell (1886-1945) miner, club manager and trade union official 

Birth: 5 December 1886 at Cross roads, Moonta, South Australia, son of Edward Quintrell (1858-1914), a hawker, and Anne Grace, née Waters (1859-1937). Both parents had been born in Cornwall, England — Edward at Camborne, and Annie at Crowan. Marriage: 1931 at Broken Hill, New South Wales, to Sarah Emma Priscilla (Emmie), née Thomson, late Robertson (1895-1971), a widow with two sons. Death: 22 May 1945 in his usual residence at Carter Street, Thorngate, Adelaide. Religion: Methodist? 

  • Moved from Moonta, SA, to Broken Hill, NSW, in 1894 when very young – and was educated at the Burke Ward school there. However, he travelled between both places periodically until 1922.
  • Worked in Victoria and in copper mines in Moonta, South Australia. Joined Amalgamated Miners’ Association (AMA) in Moonta in 1903. Was vice-president of Moonta-Wallaroo branch of the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) for two terms. Twice represented mining section of AWU at South Australian Australian Labor Party Conference.
  • Underground miner on Broken Hill line of lode, including Zinc Corporation and South Blocks for twenty-six years to 1933, when he was placed on workers' compensation for industrial disease.
  • Joined Barrier branch of the AMA in 1907. President of the Workers' International Industrial Union of Australia (WIUofA) from 1924 to 1932. Central councillor of Miners' Federation for several terms. Attended Miners' Conventions of 1925 and 1928, the All Australian Congress of Trade Unions in Melbourne in 1926 and the 'Hands Off China' Conference in May 1927.
  • Chairman of Miners' Federation re-organisation committee for revision of rules. Represented WIUofA on Barrier Industrial Council and Barrier District Assembly of ALP (BDA ALP) for seven years. President of BDA ALP for a term.
  • Secretary-manager of Barrier Social Democratic Club from 1929 until he retired due to health reasons in 1933. Member, Joint Committee administering Broken Hill Compensation Fund.
  • Contested Federal seat of Darling in December 1931 election as endorsed Lang Labor candidate.
  • Was an alderman (Labor) on Broken Hill Municipal Council from September 1930 until he retired for health reasons in 1934. His verbal confrontation with Governor Sir Philip Game at an official function in Broken Hill in July 1933 attracted wide media coverage.
  • From 1942 Dick and Emmie resided in Adelaide.
  • Cause of death: auricular fibrillation congestive failure, arterial degeneration (years), pulmonary tuberculosis (months), diabetes mellitus (months) and pneumoconiosis (2 years)
  • Dick’s sister-in-law, Mrs C. T. Edes, was a prominent ALP activist in Broken Hill.

Sources
Barrier
Daily Truth (Broken Hill), 17 December 1926, 6 June 1929, 1 March 1932, 22-23 May 1945; Barrier Daily Truth (Broken Hill), Centennial Souvenir Edition 1983; Common Cause, 2 June 1945 p 2.

Additional Resources and Scholarship

Citation details

'Quintrell, Richard Ernest (Dick) (1886–1945)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/quintrell-richard-ernest-dick-34700/text43659, accessed 7 November 2024.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Birth

5 December, 1886
Moonta, South Australia, Australia

Death

22 May, 1945 (aged 58)
Thorngate, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Cause of Death

heart disease

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