People Australia

Gordon Owen Wymer (1900-1986) swagman, labourer, gaoled trade union official and alderman 

Birth: 31 May 1900, at Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, son of Charles Francis Wymer (1854-1930), commission agent, born at Kyneton, Victoria, and Sarah Annie, née Owen (1861-1919), born in Sydney, New South Wales. Marriages: (1) 16 January 1924 at West Maitland, NSW, to native-born Dulcie Frances [Billie?] Walker (1906-1958). They had three sons and two daughters. (2) 1972 at Newcastle, NSW, to native-born Mary, née O’Brien, late Armstrong (1904-1997). Death: 12 December 1986 in Royal Newcastle Hospital, Newcastle; usual residence Cooruumbung Road, Broadmeadow, Newcastle. Religion: [on service record] Anglican. 

• Started work at age of 13 in a warehouse, and later shoveled sand and gravel. His father deserted the family in 1909. In 1917 Gordon was the sole support of his mother, living at Hurlstone Park, Sydney, his older brother Francis Charles Wyner (1895-1965), a cartage contractor, having already enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force.
• Gave his occupation as driver when he enlisted in the AIF on 10 April 1917, putting his age up by two years. Served with the 45th Battalion. Fought in France and was wounded in action at Malancourt near the Amiens-Albert line. Convalesced in England and returned to France. By 1918 he was war-weary and ‘howled down’ Prime Minister Billy Hughes when the soldiers were lined up to hear him speak. Returned to Australia in August 1919 and was discharged from the AIF in Sydney in September 1919.
• Started an unsettled life working as a navvy on the Canterbury tram line. Met with remnants of the Industrial Workers of the World. Carried his swag on the track. Trapped rabbits.
• Enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy for a period of 12 years on 27 September 1922. Worked as a stoker then steward, but deserted in January 1924 after 18 months and returned to the track, working in Queensland.
• Moved to Newcastle, NSW, and worked in Lysaghts and Stewarts and Lloyds. Was a delegate for the Builders’ Laborers’ Union for a short time. A flood swept the family from their farm near Maitland and they sheltered in Adamstown Unemployed Camp in Newcastle.
• Joined Unemployed Workers Movement and organised a UWM branch at Merewether. Later also became secretary of Hamilton and Medowie UWM; Arrested with thirty other men at Clara Street while they resisted the eviction of a returned soldier and his family. Amongst 19 men who were brutally assaulted by police and gaoled.
• After an 8-day trial, with 20 others he was acquitted by a jury of charges of ‘assault, bodily harm and willful obstruction of constables’; the remaining 10 faced a retrial.
• Campaign launched for the acquittal of the men including the Citizen’s Defence and Protest Committee of which Wymer was secretary. After the re-trial acquitted only two of the men, the Attorney-General re-considered the case and accepted advice that another trial would be expensive and unlikely to gain an eviction so the police withdrew the charges and the men were discharged.
• Campaigned with others to unionise various relief work jobs into the Australian Workers’ Union and Builders Laborers’ Union.
• Became president of the Adamstown Spanish Relief Committee in 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, and wrote many letters to the Newcastle Morning Herald against Franco. Contributed many letters over various issues to Newcastle newspapers until his death.
• Became president of the Newcastle Branch of the Builders Laborers’ Federation and in 1940-41 became acting State Secretary;
• Served with the 2nd Australian Garrison Brigade Signals in the Citizen Military Forces and the Australian Imperial Force from 15 July 1941 to 4 July 1944. After his discharge, he was employed in the Newcastle wool stores. Later worked at the Wallsend State Housing Commission and became job and union representative.
• Organiser for the Lake Home Appeal for the Bolton Point Convalescent Home for Soldiers overseeing the building of the home in 1945.
• Joined the Australian Labor Party in 1946. Elected alderman of Newcastle City Council in 1959. First labor chairman of Shortland County Council for one year and retired.
• Built house at Tanilba Bay. Founded Tanilba Bay Senior Citizens & Pensioners Association in 1974 with his second wife. Helped to obtain land grant from the Minister of Lands and obtain aid from the Port Stephens Shire Council to build a Senior Citizens Centre and Home for the Aged. Runner-up in Hunter region’s NSW Senior Citizen quest in 1978.

Sources
Information from Vera Deacon.