People Australia

Justina Williams, n.d.

Marjorie Georgina Joan Williams, née Allen, formerly Thomas (also known as ‘Joan’ and ‘Justina’) (1916-2008),  journalist, author, poet, community activist, Communist and feminist 

Birth: 26 January 1916 at Coolgardie, Western Australia, daughter of Frederick Henry Harman Allen (1895-1949), accountant and farmer, and Marjorie Justina, née Seagrim (1893-1966), pianist. Both her parents had been born in South Australia, Marriages: (1) 16 March 1937 at Perth, WA, to Harvey Alfred Pete Thomas (1914-1988), journalist, Communist and author. They had one daughter and one son. The marriage ended in divorce. (2) 21 April 1948 in the District Registrar’s office, Perth, to Victor Robert Williams (1914-2011), journalist and Communist activist. They had one daughter and one son. Death: 21 June 2008 at Fremantle, WA. Religion: Atheist. 

• Spent her childhood at Hassell Homestead, Kendenup, WA. Attended primary school at Kendenup; obtained a scholarship to Albany High School.
• Studied for a Diploma of Journalism, University of Western Australian (incomplete); Perth Technical School. Trained as a journalist with the West Australian, Perth, from 1934 to 1938, resigning on her marriage because the paper would not employ married women. Member of the Australian Journalists’ Association.
• Joined the Communist Party of Australia in 1939. Member of the CPA WA State Committee from about 1944 to 1947.
• Casual journalist until employed full time by the Daily News, Perth. Correspondent for News Chronicle, London, 1942-1945. Was a journalist with the WA CPA newspaper Workers’ Star, editing the paper for some years. Was ordered from the WA Arbitration Court September in 1948 for her association with the CPA paper.
• Joined Realist Writers in 1950, writing poems and short stories on ‘Soviet woman’, while her husband, Vic, was a correspondent for Australian and New Zealand socialist papers. Was a member of the Australian Society of Authors.
• From the the 1950s she was active in women’s and peace movements. Active in waterfront strikes of 1954 and 1956 in Fremantle. Founded Waterside Workers’ Federation Women’s Committee (WWFWC) WA Branch, 1954, serving as president until its closure in about 1968. Joint delegate to WWFWC national conferences; joint delegate from WWFWC to WA Committee for Equal Pay and Opportunity.
• WA correspondent to Tribune after publication of Workers’ Star discontinued by CPA national executive. Campaigned against Australian involvement in the Vietnam War. Stood twice as CPA candidate for the Australian Senate and House of Representatives. Member CPA delegation to China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russia) in 1962.
• Founding member Women’s Liberation WA (1970) and the Women’s Electoral Lobby (1972). Councillor, Melville City Council, from 1973 to 1977. President Australian Fellowship of Writers, WA Section, for two two-year terms, federal secretary in 1973, honorary life member.
• Lived in Moscow, USSR, from 1977 to 1978.
• Helped WA Branch of Australian Peace Committee 1979, secretary 1979-92. WA delegate to numerous national and international peace conferences. Member APC national delegation to International Peace Conference, New Delhi, 1982, and World Peace Council International Peace Conference, 1986, co-delegate to International Peace Cruise, Kiev, 1993.
• Campaigned against US bases in Australia and against visits by US nuclear warships to Fremantle. Executive member, Perth branch, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History.
• Appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in January 1996 for services to the community as a writer, particularly in the areas of peace, social equality and protection of the environment.
• Author of The First Furrow (1976, history of CPA, WA); Trade Unionism (1978); Anger & Love (1993, autobiography). Plays: Which? (1976, documentary play funded by International Women’s Year Committee); Poetry: The Dreaming Vine (1970), By All The Clocks (1975), People & Peace (1986). Short stories: White River (1978). 

Sources
Information from Anne Morrison, 1994.