People Australia

John James (Jack Senior) Williams (1881-1959) miner, trade union official and Communist

Birth: 1881 at New Lambton, Newcastle, New South Wales, son of native-born parents Francis John Williams (1859-1944), a miner and council employee, and Annie, née Davies (1861-1932). Marriage: 1914 at Wallsend, Newcastle, to Ruth Rogers (1887-1964), born in England, probably at Southwark, London. They had one son, (Jack junior). Death: 14 September 1959 in his usual residence at Alma Road, New Lambton, NSW. 

• Jack Williams worked on the goldfields and opal diggings before settling in Newcastle before World War I.
• His range of occupations is demonstrated by his membership, at various times, of the Water Board Union, the Glass Workers Union, the Australian Workers’ Union (which he served as president of the Newcastle section) and various mining bodies.
• He was known predominantly as a militant miner who was president of the Stockton Borehole Miners Lodge and an active member of the Miners' Federation. He was also a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, the Unemployed Workers’ Movement and the Communist Party of Australia.
• He was prominent in the anti conscription movement during the World War I and was a peace activist in the 1930s.
• Occupation on his death certificate given as “cleaner”. Cause of death: carcinomatosis of the liver (3 months).
• Edgar Ross conducted his funeral service at the crematorium.

Sources
Ross Edmonds, In Storm and Struggle. A History of the Communist Party in Newcastle 1920-1940 (1991); Common Cause, 19 September 1959.