Labour Australia

John Samuel (Jack) Blackmore (1853-1931) printer, trade union leader 

Birth: 28 June 1853, Fremantle, Western Australia, son of Samuel Blackmore, gardener, and Margaret, née Davies. Marriage: 14 October 1882 in Newtown, Sydney, to Mary Bird. They had one son and two daughters. Death: 30 July 1931 at the state hospital, Lidcombe, Sydney. Religion: Congregational. 

• Moved from Perth to Melbourne with his mother, then to Adelaide, where ‘Jackie’ found employment in a printing office.
• Back in Melbourne he worked with Messrs Troedel and Co., printers.
• In 1882 he moved to Sydney. He was employed by John Sands Ltd for the next 45 years. He became a highly skilled printer, known as ‘Old Blackie’.
• In 1882 he was active in the formation of the Lithographic Society of New South Wales; was vice-president and president of Printing Trades Council; delegate to Labor Council and Eight Hour Committee, ongoing commitments for most of his life.
• Founding member and secretary, Balmain/Rozelle Labor League. Conducted many interviews with Premier George Dibbs on behalf of the unemployed.
• Enthusiastic participant in printers’ picnic days especially in ‘his struggle to come in victor in the Old Buffer’s Race’.
• Remembered for renderings of ‘Piccadilly’ and for his ubiquitous cigar at union meetings. George Mackaness described him as ‘a notably generous man’ with a ‘benevolent smile and twinkling eyes’, of ‘staunch Unionist spirit and commonsense outlook’.

Sources
Official Souvenir of the 8-Hour Demonstration, 1908; Amalgamated Printing Trades Union Review, September 1931.