William Spence
Encyclopedia
William Guthrie Spence (7 August 1846 – 13 December 1926), Australian trade union
leader and politician, played a leading role in the formation of both Australia's largest union, the Australian Workers Union, and the Australian Labor Party
.
in the Orkney Islands
, Scotland, the son of a stonemason, and migrated to Australia with his family as a six-year-old child. He had no formal education and worked as a farm labourer in the Wimmera
district of Victoria from the age of 13. Later he acquired a gold-mining license and worked for various mining companies. In 1871 he married Ann Jane Savage.
In 1874 Spence was one of a number of militant mine-workers who formed the Amalgamated Miners' Association of Victoria, and he became the union's general secretary in 1882. He led the union into mergers with similar unions in the other Australian colonies, forming the Amalgamated Miners' Association of Australasia. In 1886 he became the first president of the Amalgamated Shearers' Union and by 1890 most shearers in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales had joined the union and 85 per cent of the shearing sheds were open to union members only.
Since the Australian economy was expanding rapidly at this time and there was an acute shortage of labour, the unions were in a strong bargaining position and were able to secure great improvements in the living standards of Australia's rural working class. But the Depression which began in 1891 led to acute class conflict as the mine owners and graziers tried to cut wages to remain solvent in the face of falling commodity prices, and the unions resisted. In 1894 Spence led the amalgamation of the miners, shearers and other rural workers into the Australian Workers Union (AWU), Australia's largest and most powerful union. There were bitter strikes in the maritime and pastoral industries, in which Spence played a leading role, although he was generally a force for moderation in the labour movement. He was the AWU's secretary from 1894 to 1898 and president from 1898 to 1917.
The defeat of the strikes of 1891–1894 led Spence and other labour leaders to move into politics. Spence supported the formation of the Progressive Political League, an early labour party, in Victoria in 1891 and he was narrowly beaten at a by-election in 1892 for the seat of Dundas in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
. In 1891, he supported the first election campaign by the Labour Party in New South Wales
, which won a number of seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
. In 1898 Spence he became MP for Cobar
in western New South Wales. He remained president of the AWU, making him one of the most powerful men in New South Wales politics. He described himself as "an evolutionary, not a revolutionary, socialist."
Unlike many in the labour movement, Spence supported the federation
of the Australian colonies, and in 1901 he was elected to the first Australian House of Representatives
as MP for the NSW Division of Darling
. Like most of the older generation of labour leaders who were born in the United Kingdom, Spence was associated with the more conservative wing of the Australian Labor Party
, led by Billy Hughes
. He was not really suited to parliamentary life and did not hold office until he was appointed Postmaster-General
in the third Fisher Ministry
from September 1914 to October 1915. He was also appointed to the undemanding position of Vice-President of the Executive Council
in the second Hughes Ministry
from November 1916 to February 1917.
In 1916 Hughes decided to introduce conscription
to maintain Australia's contribution to the Allied forces in World War I. Most of the Labor Party bitterly opposed this, but Spence sided with Hughes. As a result he was expelled from the party along with Hughes and the other conscriptionist MPs. He was also deposed as president of the AWU and shortly after was expelled from the union. At the 1917 federal election, although Hughes was easily returned to power, Spence lost his seat, mainly because the AWU organised the rural workers to oppose him. Shortly after he was returned to Parliament at a by-election for the Tasmania
n seat of Darwin
. He was one of only five people who have represented more than one state or territory in the House of Representatives. In 1919, he ran for the Melbourne seat of Batman
, but was defeated.
Spence took up farming and died of pulmonary oedema at Terang
, Victoria, survived by his wife, four daughters and three of his five sons. His daughter Gwynetha had married publisher and politician Hector Lamond
in 1902.
and was an active Protestant Christian – he was a Primitive Methodist lay preacher. Like most of his generation, he was loyal to the British Empire
and thus supported conscription, while the younger, Australian-born and more secular (or Irish-Catholic) wing of the labour movement opposed it. Unlike Hughes, he soon regretted his break with the Labor Party and never recovered from his rejection by the union he helped found.
suburb of Spence
was named after William Guthrie Spence. In October 2003 the Australian Workers' Union named its Melbourne headquarters in Spence's honour.
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
leader and politician, played a leading role in the formation of both Australia's largest union, the Australian Workers Union, and 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...
.
Early life
Spence was born on the island of EdayEday
Eday is one of the Orkney Islands, which are located to the north of the Scottish mainland in the United Kingdom. Eday is located in the North Isles of Orkney, and is about north of the main island of Orkney Mainland...
in the Orkney Islands
Orkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
, Scotland, the son of a stonemason, and migrated to Australia with his family as a six-year-old child. He had no formal education and worked as a farm labourer in the Wimmera
Wimmera
The Wimmera is a region in the west of the Australian state of Victoria.It covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Australia border and north of the Great Dividing Range...
district of Victoria from the age of 13. Later he acquired a gold-mining license and worked for various mining companies. In 1871 he married Ann Jane Savage.
In 1874 Spence was one of a number of militant mine-workers who formed the Amalgamated Miners' Association of Victoria, and he became the union's general secretary in 1882. He led the union into mergers with similar unions in the other Australian colonies, forming the Amalgamated Miners' Association of Australasia. In 1886 he became the first president of the Amalgamated Shearers' Union and by 1890 most shearers in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales had joined the union and 85 per cent of the shearing sheds were open to union members only.
Since the Australian economy was expanding rapidly at this time and there was an acute shortage of labour, the unions were in a strong bargaining position and were able to secure great improvements in the living standards of Australia's rural working class. But the Depression which began in 1891 led to acute class conflict as the mine owners and graziers tried to cut wages to remain solvent in the face of falling commodity prices, and the unions resisted. In 1894 Spence led the amalgamation of the miners, shearers and other rural workers into the Australian Workers Union (AWU), Australia's largest and most powerful union. There were bitter strikes in the maritime and pastoral industries, in which Spence played a leading role, although he was generally a force for moderation in the labour movement. He was the AWU's secretary from 1894 to 1898 and president from 1898 to 1917.
Political career
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...
. In 1891, he supported the first election campaign by the Labour Party in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, which won a number of seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
. In 1898 Spence he became MP for Cobar
Electoral district of Cobar
Cobar was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1894 to 1920, when it was combined with Willyama and Sturt to create a three-member Sturt. Cobar was recreated in 1932 and abolished in 1968. It included Cobar.-Members for Cobar:...
in western New South Wales. He remained president of the AWU, making him one of the most powerful men in New South Wales politics. He described himself as "an evolutionary, not a revolutionary, socialist."
Unlike many in the labour movement, Spence supported the federation
History of Australia
The History of Australia refers to the history of the area and people of Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Aboriginal Australians are believed to have first arrived on the Australian mainland by boat from the Indonesian archipelago between 40,000 to...
of the Australian colonies, and in 1901 he was elected to the first Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
as MP for the NSW Division of Darling
Division of Darling
The Division of Darling was an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. From 1901 until 1922 it was based on Bourke, Cobar, Nyngan, Coonamble and Gilgandra. From 1906 it also...
. Like most of the older generation of labour leaders who were born in the United Kingdom, Spence was associated with the more conservative wing of 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...
, led by Billy Hughes
Billy Hughes
William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
. He was not really suited to parliamentary life and did not hold office until he was appointed Postmaster-General
Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (Australia)
The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is currently Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy. He replaced Senator the Hon Helen Coonan on 3 December 2007.-Portfolio:...
in the third Fisher Ministry
Third Fisher Ministry
The Third Fisher Ministry was the eleventh Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 17 September 1914 to 27 October 1915.Australian Labor Party*Hon Andrew Fisher, MP: Prime Minister and Treasurer*Hon Billy Hughes, MP: Attorney-General...
from September 1914 to October 1915. He was also appointed to the undemanding position of Vice-President of the Executive Council
Vice-President of the Executive Council
The Vice-President of the Federal Executive Council is a position in Australian federal governments, whose holder acts as presiding officer of the Federal Executive Council in the absence of the Governor-General....
in the second Hughes Ministry
Second Hughes Ministry
The Second Hughes Ministry was the thirteenth Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 14 November 1916 to 17 February 1917.National Labor Party*Rt Hon Billy Hughes, MP: Prime Minister, Attorney-General*Senator Hon George Pearce: Minister for Defence...
from November 1916 to February 1917.
In 1916 Hughes decided to introduce conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
to maintain Australia's contribution to the Allied forces in World War I. Most of the Labor Party bitterly opposed this, but Spence sided with Hughes. As a result he was expelled from the party along with Hughes and the other conscriptionist MPs. He was also deposed as president of the AWU and shortly after was expelled from the union. At the 1917 federal election, although Hughes was easily returned to power, Spence lost his seat, mainly because the AWU organised the rural workers to oppose him. Shortly after he was returned to Parliament at a by-election for the Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
n seat of Darwin
Division of Darwin
The Division of Darwin was an Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania. The division was created in 1903 and abolished in 1955, when it was replaced by the Division of Braddon. It was named after Charles Darwin, who visited Australia in 1836. It was located in north-western Tasmania, including the...
. He was one of only five people who have represented more than one state or territory in the House of Representatives. In 1919, he ran for the Melbourne seat of Batman
Division of Batman
The Division of Batman is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1906 , and is named after John Batman, one of the founders of the city of Melbourne. When it was created it covered the inner suburbs of Carlton and Fitzroy, but successive boundary changes have...
, but was defeated.
Spence took up farming and died of pulmonary oedema at Terang
Terang, Victoria
Terang is a small Australian town situated in Corangamite Shire in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, on the Princes Highway 212 km south-west of the state's capital, Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Terang had a population of 2256...
, Victoria, survived by his wife, four daughters and three of his five sons. His daughter Gwynetha had married publisher and politician Hector Lamond
Hector Lamond
Hector Lamond was an Australian politician.Lamond was born at Broughton Creek, near Berry, New South Wales and educated at public schools. He was apprenticed as a printer to the Carcoar Chronicle when he was 14 and was its editor at 25. He was involved in the establishment of the Australian...
in 1902.
Assessment
Spence was typical of the founding generation of the Australian labour movement, in that he was born in Britain rather than Australia, was self-educated, was active in the temperance movementTemperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
and was an active Protestant Christian – he was a Primitive Methodist lay preacher. Like most of his generation, he was loyal to the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
and thus supported conscription, while the younger, Australian-born and more secular (or Irish-Catholic) wing of the labour movement opposed it. Unlike Hughes, he soon regretted his break with the Labor Party and never recovered from his rejection by the union he helped found.
Honours
In 1972 the CanberraCanberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
suburb of Spence
Spence, Australian Capital Territory
Spence is a suburb in the Belconnen district of Canberra. The postcode is 2615. The suburb is named after William Spence , one of the founders of the Australian Workers' Union and later a member of the first Australian House of Representatives. It was gazetted on 2 November 1972. Streets are named...
was named after William Guthrie Spence. In October 2003 the Australian Workers' Union named its Melbourne headquarters in Spence's honour.