Labour Australia

Jacob Hyman, 1899

Tocsin (Melbourne), 20 April 1899, p 5

Jacob, known as John or 'Jack' Hyman (1857-1916) bootmaker, trade union leader 

Birth: 29 November 1857 at 3 Drum Yard, Whitechapel, London, England, son of Abraham Hyman (1823-1891), furrier, and Catherine, née Myers (1826-1877). Marriage: 1886 in East Melbourne Synagogue, Victoria, to Caroline Lazarus (1864-1898). They had three daughters and two sons. Death: 23 May 1916 at his home in Fitzroy, Melbourne. Religion: Jewish. 

• One of a family of seven, his eldest brother held a prominent position in the London press and all three of the boys in the family were prominent in reform movements.
• Trained as a bootmaker and worked in his trade at Mile End, London. Reached Sydney as an assisted immigrant aboard the Northampton on 21 October 1882. Joined Operative Bootmakers’ Society in January 1884.
• Moved to Victoria in 1886. Delegate of Operative Bootmakers’ Society to Trades Hall Council and Eight Hours Committee, Victoria. President and secretary of the Operative Bootmakers’ Society.
• Secretary of the Eight Hours’ Anniversary Committee and president, 1896. President of Trades Hall Council.
• President of first Political and Labor League, Victoria.
• Member of the Commission on Unemployment appointed by the McLean Government.
• Cause of death: cardiac disease and Brights disease.

Sources 
H. J. Gibbney and A. G. Smith, A Biographical Register 1788-1939, vol 1 (Canberra, 1987); W. E. Murphy, History of the Eight Hour Movement, Spectator Publicity Co. Ltd., Vol. 1 (Melbourne, 1896); Tocsin (Melbourne), 20 April 1899, profile p 4: [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/197530855] & illustrations, p 5 [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/21469937]; Labor Call (Melbourne), 22 April 1909, p 15 ]https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/250017722] 23 April 1914 p 13.