People Australia

Eli Shaw (1876-1956) engine driver and trade union official

Baptised: on Christmas Day 1876 at the parish church of St Andrew, Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, son of Mary Ann Shaw (1845-1932), spinster, of East Moor, Wakefield. On Eli’s death certificate, his father was named as Thomas Havercroft. Marriage: 24 August 1904 at Brisbane, Queensland, to Ada Helliwell Standring (1883-1935), born at Brisbane. They had four daughters and three sons. Death: 7 December 1956 at Maygar Street, Brisbane. Religion: Anglican. 

• In 1881 England census he was living with his mother and widowed grandmother, both washerwomen, at Stanley Cum Wrenthorpe, Wakefield, Yokshire.
• Eli and his mother arrived at Brisbane, Queensland, probably aboard the Dorunda on 13 December 1886.
• Honorary organising secretary of the Queensland branch of the Federated Engine Drivers’ and Firemen’s Association of Australasia (FEDFA) in 1902-1908; he was Queensland branch secretary from 1908 to 1943 (retired). Unsuccessfully contested presidency of FEDFA in December 1951.
• Represented Qld branch of FEDFA as federal councillor and delegate to Australian Council of Trade Unions and.was its pugnacious advocate in the Industrial Court.
• Delegate to Queensland central executive of the Australian Labor Party.
• In January 1935 he was badly injured in a car accident, following which his wife died of her injuries.
• Member of the Lutwyche Lodge No. 5, of the United Ancient Order of Druids.
• Played rugby union and represented Queensland in interstate matches.
• Cause of death: coronary occlusion (minutes) and nephrosclerosis (years).

Sources
Safety Valve, March 1957, p 6.