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Jim Eagleson (James) Smith (1894–1988)

This article was published:

Jim Eagleson (James) Smith, also known as Jim Eagleton (or Engleson) Smith (1894-1988) carpenter and trade union official 

Birth: 9 February 1894 at Portarlington, Victoria, and registered as Jim Eaglesin Smith, son of William Augustus (Augustus) Smith (1823-1895), a storekeeper, born in Gloucestershire, England, and Catherine Bruce Tonnor, née Kelly (1868-1943), born at Ballarat, Victoria. Marriage: as James Engleson Smith on 5 June 1914 at Hindmarsh, South Australia, to native-born Alice Louisa James (1895-1987). They had one daughter and two sons. Death: as Jim Eagleson Smith on 18 February 1988 in District Hospital at Broken Hill, New South Wales; usual residence Thomas Lane, Broken Hill. Religion: Anglican. 

  • Resided in Broken Hill, NSW, with his family from about 1915. Described in electoral rolls in 1930-1936 as Jim Eagleson Smith, butcher, and in 1937-1977 as Jim Eagleson Smith, carpenter. Newspaper references mostly refer to him as Jim Eagleson Smith, and occasionally as Jim Eagleton Smith.
  • President of the Broken Hill branch of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners (ASCJ) from 1930 to 1937.
  • First president of the Building Trades Union, which emerged when the ASCJ was reconstituted, from 1937 to 1966. Secretary of the Building Trades Union from 1966 to 1974.
  • Was a candidate for Australian Labor Party preselection for the State seat of Cobar in 1949.
  • Cause of death: acute myocardial infarction (15 minutes), alcoholic cirrhosis (15 years) and carcinoma of prostate (6 months).

Sources
RHB?: Broken Hill 1915-39, p 65-66.

Citation details

'Smith, Jim Eagleson (James) (1894–1988)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/smith-jim-eagleson-james-34994/text44113, accessed 27 April 2025.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • Smith, Jim Eagleton
  • Smith, Jim Engleson
  • Smith, Jim Eaglesin
Birth

9 February, 1894
Portarlington, Victoria, Australia

Death

18 February, 1988 (aged 94)
Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia

Cause of Death

cirrhosis of the liver

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.

Religious Influence

Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

Occupation or Descriptor
Key Organisations