People Australia

Arthur James Huet Watts (c.1880-1936) miner, trade union official, newspaper director 

Birth: about 1880 at Huntly, near Bendigo, Victoria, son of native-born parents Charles Sumsion Watts (1857-1927), labourer, and Sarah Ann, née Le Sueur (1857-1943). Marriage: 24 June 1907 in the Catholic Cathedral at Perth, Western Australia, to Catherine Gertrude Burt (1878-1956), a waitress. They had one daughter and one son. Death: 18 May 1936 in St John of God hospital, Subiaco, WA. Religion: Married with Catholic, buried with Anglican rites. 

• In 1896 he moved to Western Australia, aged 16. Worked as a miner at Menzies till about 1912.
• Joined Sewerage Department. Elected secretary of the General Workers Union (GWU) about 1912. When the GWU merged with the state branch of the Australian Workers’ Union, Watts was elected general secretary again, remaining so until his death.
• He was a member of the state executive of the Australian Labor Party and the State Disputes Committee. From 1925 to 1936 he was chairman of directors of the People’s Printing and Publishing Company, which controlled the Westralian Worker, from 1920 to 1924.
• Elected Perth City councillor in 1920-1924. Resigned in February 1924 with others to test public opinion on the proposed dismissal of the city engineer, and was defeated.
• Commissioned justice of the peace.
• Cause of death cancer of colon (splenic flexure) and cardiac failure (many months). 

Sources
Death Certificate, Perth 857/1936; marriage certificate Perth 311/1907; Perth City Council card index to councillors; Westralian Worker, 22 May 1936; H. J. Gibbney and Ann G. Smith (eds), A Biographical Register 1788-1939, vol 2 (Canberra, 1987).