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Thomas Gilbert (Tom) Payne (1898–1988)

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This entry is from People Australia

Thomas (Tom) Gilbert Payne (1898-1988)

Born 16 February 1898 at Clunes, Victoria, son of Edward Payne and Alice née Harden.  Married. Elsie Margaret Rawlings, 1937: two children Died. 26 April 1988, Clunes. Atheist.

  • Joined ALP at Clunes 1915; moved to Prahran, Melbourne, c.1915, where he was apprenticed to shoe repairing.
  • Active in anti-conscription campaigns 1916-17. Moved to Sydney, establishing shoe repair shop in Balmain. Joined Australian Socialist Party (ASP), becoming prominent ASP speaker at the Domain and on the coalfields; involved in the defection of the ASP’s Sydney Branch to CPA in 1922.
  • Member of Clerks Union in early 1920s.
  • Self-funded CPA delegate to Fourth Comintern Congress, Moscow, 1922, with Jock Garden and W.P. Earsman; travelled on passport ‘borrowed’ from a fellow member of the Clerks Union; removed from ship at Fremantle by Commonwealth authorities but smuggled back on board by sympathetic wharfies and seamen; at Southhampton was passed off as seaman; then to Russia via a Soviet cargo ship.
  • Drifted from CPA in mid-1920s; active in Balmain branch of ALP in mid-1920s, serving as vice-president (1924).
  • Leading figure in ALP Socialisation Units in early 1930s; official of Unemployed Workers’ Movement after 1930; with Stan Moran jailed in 1933 for abusing police.
  • Rejoined CPA in 1933; sometime associate of J.B. Miles and Fred Farrell.
  • In 1930s, operated boot repair shop in Glebe which was a hub of activist discussion and debate; tutor at local CPA classes; member of CPA’s Glebe branch for many years.
  • Retired to Clunes c.1972, though returned frequently to Sydney as political activist. Characterised affectionately by Ian Baker as a model of correct behaviour: ‘non-swearing, sober in habit, well-dressed, well-read and extremely articulate’. Described by others as a ‘brilliant propagandist’.

Sources
A Davidson PhD thesis, p.469; Recorder, 74, 1975; Seamen’s Journal, May 1988, pp. 202-3; Guardian, 8 June 1988; Workers Weekly, 22  May 1925, 25 August 1933; Tribune, 11 May 1988.

Related Entries in NCB Sites

Citation details

'Payne, Thomas Gilbert (Tom) (1898–1988)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://labouraustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/payne-thomas-gilbert-tom-31925/text39381, accessed 29 March 2024.

© Copyright Labour Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Birth

16 February, 1898
Clunes, Victoria, Australia

Death

26 April, 1988 (aged 90)
Clunes, Victoria, Australia

Religious Influence

Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

Occupation
Key Events
Key Organisations
Political Activism