Labour Australia

James Fox, 1931

Sydney Morning Herald, 23 November 1931, p 12

James Fox (1886-1951) stove-fitter, trade union official and parliamentarian 

Birth: 11 February 1886 at Hollinwood, Manchester, Lancashire, England, son of John Thomas Fox (1859-1927), stove-fitter, and Elizabeth, née Tetlow (1860-1927). Marriage: 20 March 1918 at Sydney, New South Wales, to a native-born widow with two children, Lydia, née Akins, late Heness (1886-1963). They had one son. Death: 22 May 1951 in hospital at Waterloo, Sydney, NSW. Religion: Anglican.

• Was working as a stove fitter/grate fitter in Pudsey, Leeds, Yorkshire, in 1911.
• Settled at Alexandria, NSW, about 1915. Employed by Metters Ltd until 1926.
• Member of Stovemakers’ Union from 1917; organiser 1926-1930, secretary 1931-1944.
• Delegate to NSW Trades and Labor Council; executive member 1927-28. Member of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
• President Alexandria branch of Australian Labor Party. Member of ALP central executive from 1930 to 1931.
• Appointed member of the NSW Legislative Council on 24 November 1931. Failed to be elected to the reconstituted constituted council in 1933 so left parliament on 22 April 1934.
• Worked as a tally clerk after parliamentary defeat.
• Alderman Alexandria from 1934 to 1948; deputy mayor in 1937.
• Cause of Death: acute myocardial failure and myocardial degeneration.

Sources
Heather Radi, Peter Spearritt and Elizabeth Hinton (eds), Biographical Register of the NSW Parliament 1901-1970 (Canberra, 1979); Labor Daily (Sydney), 13 January 1927; Sheet Metal Worker, July 1954; Labor Year Book, 1933, 1934/5.