People Australia

Tom Tunaley, n.d.

Thomas (Tom) Tunaley (1882-1929) joiner, trade union official and mayor

Birth: 27 January 1882 at Beswick, Manchester, Lancashire, England, son of John Charles Tunaley (1850-1900), joiner, and Mary Ann, née Fletcher (1848-1905), embroiderer. Marriage: 5 September 1908 at Clayton, St Cross, Lancashire, to Margaret Elizabeth Ann Simpson (1885-1963). They had three daughters and four sons. Death: 15 May 1929 in St Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria. Religion: buried with Anglican rites. 

• Held office in the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters’ and Joiners (ASC&J) in Great Britain, representing the union on the Birmingham Trades and Labor Council.
• In April 1911 was living with his wife and two elder children with his parents-in-law at Bradford, and was employed as a joiner at Bradford.
• Arrived in Melbourne, Victoria, aboard the Themistocles on 14 August 1911. His wife arrived in Sydney, aboard the Gothic, with one of their children in October. Moved to Hawthorn, Melbourne, Victoria, and worked as a carpenter.
• As organiser with the ASC&J, he was known for travelling the whole of Victoria on his motorcycle. Acted as secretary of the union in 1917 in the absence of J. Dias in Britain. Leader of union delegates on Wages Board. Union advocate on Arbitration Court.
• Represented his union on the Melbourne Trades Hall Council and was a member for many years of the Eight-Hours Committee. A delegate to the Building Trades Federation, he was elected president in 1917 and 1921. Was a representative on the Metropolitan Board of Works.
• Elected Labor councillor on Collingwood municipal council in August 1921 and held the seat until his death. Was mayor of Collingwood in 1927-1928.
• Died of pneumonia after a very brief illness.

Sources
Australian Worker, 29 May 1929, p.1; Labor Call, 23 May 1929 p 5.