Labour Australia

George Buckingham, 1912

Co-Operator (Sydney), 7 October 1912, p 12

George Nathaniel Buckingham (1872-1919 ) storeman and trade union leader 

Birth; 11 October 1872 in Sydney, New South Wales, son of Emma Eliza Curtis. He was acknowledged to be the son of George Nathaniel Buckingham (1856-1901), who married ‘Emerline’ Curtis in Scots Church, Sydney on 2 February 1874. Marriage: 24 November 1903 in Sydney to NSW-born Vera May Mason (1878-1932). They had two sons and two daughters. Death: 22 April 1919 in Sydney Hospital from injuries received in a work accident. Religion: Anglican. 

• Storeman employed at Dalgetys Wool Store, Sydney. In 1907 lobbied NSW Trades Hall for union of storeman and packers to be established to address problems of wages and conditions in industry.
• On 26 October 1907 he became foundation vice-president of the United Storemen's Union of New South Wales. Later elected to the union’s executive, he became a member of the Federated Storemen and Packers’ Union of Australia. An ‘energetic and diligent worker on the union’s behalf, ‘fluent and fearless’. Built up the union and sat on wage boards while working in Dalgetys bond and free stores.
• On the afternoon of 22 April 1919 Buckingham was “handling bales of wool for removal at one of the Government woolsheds in Wentworth Park, Glebe,” when “six bales from an adjoining stack unexpectedly fell from a height of about 10 feet. One bale struck Buckingham on the shoulder, and pinned him to the ground.”
• His widow was appointed a justice of the peace in December 1926.