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Joseph (Joe) Convery (1899–1987)

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This entry is from People Australia

Joseph (Joe) Convery (1899-1987) boilermaker, trade union official and Communist

Birth: 1899 at Coatbridge, Glasgow, Scotland, son of Charles Convery. Marriages: (1) 24 May 1933 at St Saviour’s Church, Hindmarsh, South Australia, to Edith Lyon, born at Walker on Tyne, England. They had two daughters. (2) to Agnes Annie (1911-1995) [details unknown]. Death: 25 May 1987 in hospital at Adelaide. 

  • Apprentice boilermaker on the Clyde, Scotland. To Australia, arriving in Melbourne aboard the Euripides in August 1922. To Adelaide, South Australia, in 1924.
  • 44 years active in trade union movement, holding many positions in Boilermakers Union. Branch president, Federal Councillor for SA, SA branch secretary (1948-1966); Federal vice-president, acting Federal president, Australian Council of Trade Union delegate. Successful in negotiating unity within trade union movement in SA.
  • Prominent in SA Branch of Communist Party of Australia (CPA). President, Council for Liberties 1951, opposing Menzies proposals to ban CPA.
  • Cause of death: dehydration, diarrhoea, disseminated neuroendocrine cancer, and prostatic cancer.

Sources
Boilermaker, February-March 1962, September 1966; Jim Moss, Representatives of discontent; history of the Communist Party in South Australia 1921-1981 (Melbourne, 1983).

Original Publication

Citation details

'Convery, Joseph (Joe) (1899–1987)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://labouraustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/convery-joseph-joe-33569/text41962, accessed 7 May 2024.

© Copyright Labour Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Birth

1899
Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Scotland

Death

25 May, 1987 (aged ~ 88)
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Cause of Death

cancer (neuroendocrine)

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

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