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George Ellis (?–?)

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This entry is from People Australia

George Ellis (c.1857?-1899?) shearer, gaoled trade unionist 

Birth: unknown. Death: unknown.  

  • Active in Queensland Shearers' Union (QSU). Delegate to Central District Council, Australian Labour Federation, 1890.
  • Chair of Lagoon Creek camp near Blackall during 1891 shearers' strike. Urged calm and resolution after arrest of strike committee in March 1891.
  • In April 1891 was arrested at Barcaldine on charges of drunkenness, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, and sentenced to one months gaol.  Then charged with molesting hired servants and sentenced to two months hard labour, despite statement by defence witness William Kewley that Ellis was at the local QSU office at the time of the alleged offence. 
  • In July 1891, recently released, he was cheered at a packed meeting at Rockhampton, calling for a royal commission into the shearers’ dispute.
  • He may have been the George Ellis, labourer, aged 42, who died at Mungindi, Queensland, on 22 May 1899. This man was unmarried and had been born in Ballarat, Victoria, son of Edward Ellis, engineer, and Esther Muir, née Sterne.

Sources
Stuart Svensen, The Shearers' War: the story of the 1891 shearers' strike (Brisbane, 1989). 

Original Publication

Related Entries in NCB Sites

Citation details

'Ellis, George (?–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://labouraustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/ellis-george-32411/text40196, accessed 6 December 2024.

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