People Australia

  • searches all National Centre of Biography websites
  • searches all National Centre of Biography websites
  • searches all National Centre of Biography websites

Browse Lists:

Cultural Advice

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website contains names, images, and voices of deceased persons.

In addition, some articles contain terms or views that were acceptable within mainstream Australian culture in the period in which they were written, but may no longer be considered appropriate.

These articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Australian National University.

Older articles are being reviewed with a view to bringing them into line with contemporary values but the original text will remain available for historical context.

Walter John (Pincher) Smart (1911–2004)

This article was published:

Walter John (Pincher) Smart (1911-2004) coal miner and trade union official 

Birth: 10 September 1911 at Woonona, New South Wales, son of Henry Charles Smart (1872-1917), a coal miner born in Gloucestershire, England, and Sarah Isabella, née Allen, afterwards Conlon, and later O’Rourke (1882-1963), born in Gunnedah, NSW. Marriage: 15 October 1932 at St Augustine’s Anglican church, Bulli, NSW, to native-born Dorothy Ann Boyd (1912-2013). They had two daughters and one son. Death: 18 August 2004 at Hervey Bay, Queensland. 

  • Vice-president of Southern District of the Australasian Coal and Shale Employees’ [Miners'] Federation from 1947, in 1954 he was elected president to replace Bill Parkinson.
  • Elected general president of the Miners' Federation in November 1967, again succeeding Parkinson. Jim Comerford was elected vice president. Smart held office until September 1971, when he was succeeded by Evan Phillips.

Sources
Pete Thomas, Miners in the 1970s: a narrative history of the Miners’ Federation (Sydney [1983]); Fred Moore, Paddy Gorman and Ray Harrison, At the Coal Face The human face of coal miners and their communities (1998).

Additional Resources and Scholarship

  • photo, Tribune (Sydney), 22 November 1967, p 12

Related Entries in NCB Sites

Citation details

'Smart, Walter John (Pincher) (1911–2004)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/smart-walter-john-pincher-34833/text43878, accessed 11 November 2024.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Birth

10 September, 1911
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

Death

18 August, 2004 (aged 92)
Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Occupation or Descriptor
Key Organisations