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Edward (Teddy) Thompson (c. 1854–1911)

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Edward (Teddy) Thompson (c.1854-1911) shearer, New Australia settler, and trade union official

Birth: about 1854 at Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, son of George Thompson and Hannah, née Travis. Marriage: not known. Death: 3 June 1911 at Sydney Hospital; late of Bourke Street, Sydney, New South Wales. Religion: buried with Anglican rites. 

  • Arrived in New South Wales about 1871.
  • Early blade shearer. Associated with the Australian Shearers’ Union from its inception.
  • One of the early organisers of the Bourke branch of the General Laborers’ Union in 1891. Active in collecting subscriptions for Broken Hill miners in 1892.
  • Associated with the ‘New Australia’ movement and left Sydney for Paraguay with the first group in 1894. Returned to NSW in 1902.
  • Organiser for the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) in 1903. Associated with the Political Labor League (Australian Labor Party) at White Cliffs and secretary at Gemville.
  • Prominent in Lightning Ridge in political issues and in establishing an entertainment and debating society, which was rewarded with a medallion of appreciation from the local PLL. Did yeoman service in building AWU.
  • (Dame) Mary Gilmore remembered him from his time in Paraguay as a fine performer of the folk songs of Yorkshire, who enjoyed roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
  • His close friends included John Charles (Jack) Meehan, MLA, and Tommy White.
  • Cause of death: “cerebral thrombosis, softening”.

Sources
Worker, 7 June 1911, 14 September 1911, p 7.

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Citation details

'Thompson, Edward (Teddy) (c. 1854–1911)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/thompson-edward-teddy-34937/text44043, accessed 27 June 2025.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Birth

c. 1854
Doncaster, Yorkshire, England

Death

3 June, 1911 (aged ~ 57)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Cause of Death

cerebral thrombosis

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.

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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.

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