People Australia

James Francis Nathan (Jim) Wilson (1881-1955) compositor and trade union official

Birth: 1881 at Cumnock, New South Wales, son of James Wright Wilson (1849-1923), an orchardist, born at Marylebone, London, England, and native-born Elizabeth Jane, née Raphael (1852-1922). Marriages: (1) 17 January 1906 at St Mary’s Catholic Church, North Sydney, to native-born Theresa Johanna White (1883-1913). They had one daughter and one son. (2) 1 June 1918 at St Clement’s Anglican Church, Marrickville, to Alice May Murphy (1883-1969). They had three sons. Death: 22 March 1955 in Chester Rest Home, Marrickville; usual residence Richards Avenue, Marrickille, Sydney. Religion: Anglican. 

• Worked in country printing offices in several NSW towns as hand compositor, monoline operator and in about 1915 transferred to the linotype.
• Joined NSW Typographical Association in 1904. Union collector in 1905. Active in country section, including president of Dubbo sub-branch in 1913 and was later secretary. Frequently attended country printing conferences held in Sydney.
• Moved to Sydney in 1920. Machine compositor on Daily Mail in 1921-1924. Organiser of the NSW branch of the Printing Industry Employees’ Union of Australia (PIEUA) in 1920-1921. Vice-president of the NSW branch and president 1922-1926. Acting secretary NSW branch (including NSW Typographical Association) 1924-1927.
• Succeeding E. C. Magrath, Wilson was elected secretary of the NSW branch of the PIEUA in 1927, and held office until he retired due to ill-health in 1952. Federal councillor of PIEUA 1922-1952. Vice-president of the federal union from 1925 to 1951. Associated with Federal awards as a witness in the Federal Arbitration Court and as a negotiator in conferences and saw increases in trades margins and basic wage and reduced hours from 48 to 44 and further to 40.
• Prominent in campaign for 44-hour week in NSW. Delegate to Australian Labor Party conferences.
• Active in fight of the industrialists against J. T. Lang’s control of the ALP and of its newspaper, the Labor Daily in 1936-1938. Was on the board of directors of the Daily News (Sydney) from 1939 until it was purchased by (Sir) Frank Packer in 1940.
• Cause of death: cerebral haemorrhage and arteriosclerosis.
• His four sons all served in the Australian Military Forces in World War II. The two elder sons, Private John James Wilson (1907-1995), rotary machinist, and Lieutenant Eric Francis Wilson (1919-2013), motor engineer, were prisoners of war in Malaya. His youngest son Clive Edward Wilson (1925-1997), proof reader, served in the Royal Australian Air Force from 1943 to 1946.
• His third son Corporal Keith Alan Wilson (1921-1942), employed in the legal branch of the NSW Department of Main Roads, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 13 July 1940, putting his age up by one year, and served in the Middle East then in New Guinea, where he was killed in action on 11 November 1942.

Sources
Labor Daily, 13 January 1927; Printing Trades Journal, 15 August 1922, 13 September 1927, p 200, 13 August 1935, December 1951, p 140, September 1952 p 82, April 1955. p. 5; The Printer, 26 August 1927, p 1, April 1955. p 35.