Jack Miles (political activist)
Encyclopedia
John Bramwell "Jack" Miles (5 September 1888 – 17 May 1969), also known as J.B.M., was a Scottish-born Australian stonemason and communist leader.
Miles was born at Wilton
, Roxburghshire
, Scotland
, to journeyman mason William Miles and Louisa, née Wiggins. He was educated at Edinburgh
and apprenticed to a stonemason in northern England. He was employed at Newcastle
and then Consett
in Durham
, where he joined the Independent Labour Party
. On 9 October 1911 he married Elizabeth Jane Black at Lanchester
; the couple emigrated to Queensland
and arrived in Brisbane on the Orama on 31 March 1913.
Miles was recruited to the Queensland Socialist League in 1918 and was a founding member of the Communist Party of Australia
(CPA) in 1920. Employed as a meatworker from 1920 to 1923 he represented the Australian Meat Industry Employees' Union on the Trades and Labor Council before returning to stonemasonry and representing the United Operative Stonemasons' Society of Queensland. In the late 1920s, having risen to prominence in the CPA, he and Lance Sharkey
won control on a platform of strong opposition to the Australian Labor Party
's "social fascist" policies. Miles disliked middle-class communist converts, condemning Fred Paterson
and John Anderson
.
Miles visited the Soviet Union
1934–35 and on his return embarked on a national tour to promote the communist cause. During the early 1930s he also had an affair with writer and fellow communist Jean Devanny
. Miles adopted the pseudonym "A. Mason" after the CPA was banned in 1940 and re-emerged after the party was rehabilitated by the Soviet Union's entry into the war, but he was overshadowed by Sharkey. He was described by an ASIO
officer in 1953 as the "Grand Old Man of Australian Communism", and remained firmly committed to the cause throughout the revelations concerning Stalinism
in the early 1950s. He died at Naremburn
in 1969 and was cremated.
Miles was born at Wilton
Wilton, Scottish Borders
Wilton is a parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, comprising the part of Hawick north of the Teviot. Formerly a separate burgh, it was merged with the burgh of Hawick in the 19th century. It stretches from Wilton Dean in the south-west to Burnfoot in the north-east.-See also:*List of...
, Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a registration county of Scotland. It borders Dumfries to the west, Selkirk to the north-west, and Berwick to the north. To the south-east it borders Cumbria and Northumberland in England.It was named after the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, to journeyman mason William Miles and Louisa, née Wiggins. He was educated at Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and apprenticed to a stonemason in northern England. He was employed at Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and then Consett
Consett
Consett is a town in the northwest of County Durham, England, about southwest of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is home to 27,394 .Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. In 1841, it was a village community of only 145, but it was about to become a boom town: below the ground was coking coal and...
in Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
, where he joined the Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
. On 9 October 1911 he married Elizabeth Jane Black at Lanchester
Lanchester, County Durham
Lanchester is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England, and was in the former district of Derwentside . It is to the west of the city of Durham and from the former steel town of Consett, and has a population of slightly over 4,000 people.Although there was a small drift mine on the...
; the couple emigrated to Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and arrived in Brisbane on the Orama on 31 March 1913.
Miles was recruited to the Queensland Socialist League in 1918 and was a founding member of the Communist Party of Australia
Communist Party of Australia
The Communist Party of Australia was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991; it was succeeded by the Socialist Party of Australia, which then renamed itself, becoming the current Communist Party of Australia. The CPA achieved its greatest political strength in the 1940s and faced an attempted...
(CPA) in 1920. Employed as a meatworker from 1920 to 1923 he represented the Australian Meat Industry Employees' Union on the Trades and Labor Council before returning to stonemasonry and representing the United Operative Stonemasons' Society of Queensland. In the late 1920s, having risen to prominence in the CPA, he and Lance Sharkey
Lance Sharkey
Lawrence Louis "Lance" Sharkey was a trade union activist, a radical journalist, and a Communist politician. From 1948 to 1965 Sharkey served as the Secretary-General of Communist Party of Australia...
won control on a platform of strong opposition to the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
's "social fascist" policies. Miles disliked middle-class communist converts, condemning Fred Paterson
Fred Paterson
Frederick Woolnough Paterson was an Australian politician, activist, unionist and lawyer. He was the only member of a Communist Party ever to be elected to a parliament anywhere in the Commonwealth of Australia....
and John Anderson
John Anderson (philosopher)
John Anderson was a Scottish-born Australian philosopher who occupied the post of Challis Professor of Philosophy at Sydney University in the years 1927-1958. He founded the empirical brand of philosophy known as Australian realism...
.
Miles visited the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
1934–35 and on his return embarked on a national tour to promote the communist cause. During the early 1930s he also had an affair with writer and fellow communist Jean Devanny
Jean Devanny
Jane Devanny was an Australian writer and Communist. Born in Ferntown, New Zealand, she migrated to Australia in 1929, eventually moving to Townsville in northern Queensland, where she died at the age of 68....
. Miles adopted the pseudonym "A. Mason" after the CPA was banned in 1940 and re-emerged after the party was rehabilitated by the Soviet Union's entry into the war, but he was overshadowed by Sharkey. He was described by an ASIO
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is Australia's national security service, which is responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically-motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system, and...
officer in 1953 as the "Grand Old Man of Australian Communism", and remained firmly committed to the cause throughout the revelations concerning Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
in the early 1950s. He died at Naremburn
Naremburn, New South Wales
Naremburn is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Naremburn is located 6 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby.-History:...
in 1969 and was cremated.