People Australia

Wells, George (1813-1892) bootmaker, and political activist 

Birth: 21 December 1813 at South Harting, Sussex, England, son of William Wells (1768-1818) and Lucy, née White (1769-1859). Marriage: 25 August 1834 at St Peter the Great Subdeanery, Chichester, Sussex, to Sarah Wilson (or Willson) (1815-1882), born at Midhurst, Sussex. They had at least five daughters and four sons. Death: 30 November 1892 at Prospect, South Australia. 

• Arrived in Adelaide with wife and eldest son aboard the John Renwick on 10 February 1837.
• Worker activist of 1840s and 1850s with “a record of involvement in industrial and political struggles second to no other worker”.
• Leading instigator of an Electoral Franchise Association in Hindmarsh, August 1850, which adopted a radical platform of universal suffrage, vote by ballot, annual elections, no property qualifications, no nominee members, no religious endowment by the state, and abolition of British control over South Australian land fund.
• Cause of death: senile decay.

Sources
Michael Quinlan, 'Early Trade Union Organisation in Australia: Three Australian Colonies 1829-1850', Labour and Industry, 1 (1) January 1987, pp 61-95; Biographical Index of South Australians 1836-1885, vol IV.