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Biographical entry Monk, Albert (1900 - 1975)

CMG

Born
1900
London, England
Died
1975
Melbourne, Victoria
Occupation
Trade Union - Official

Summary

Albert Monk was born in Waltham in Abbey, London on 16 September 1900. His family moved from England to Australia when he was ten so that his father could take up a position as a technical officer in a cordite factory in Maribyrnong, Victoria. Monk studied at Moonee Ponds West State School, but left at the age of fourteen to work at a business college. At eighteen years of age he became an instructor in shorthand. From 1919, as a result of a recommendation from one of his students, Bob Chevey, the Secretary of the Carters' & Drivers' Union, he became a Clerk in the Transport Workers' Union.

From 1924-1929 Monk worked as a clerk in the office of the Victorian Trades Hall Council, rising through various offices to become Secretary of the Council between 1934-1939. In 1927 he became minute secretary of the Australasian Council of Trade Unions and in 1934 was elected President. Monk served in this capacity until 1943 and then again from 1949 until his retirement in 1969. Aside from this, he was also full-time secretary from 1933 until 1949 and by 1939, was President of the Victorian Trades Hall Council and Victorian President of the Australian Labor Party. Monk was both the Federal and Victorian President of the Federated Clerks' Union, member of the Victorian State Relief Committee and Workers' Compensation Board.

Albert Monk's overseas commitments were just as considerable. He was a member of the governing body of the International Labour Office and the World Federation of Trade Unions from 1945 and an executive member of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.

In 1966 Monk was honoured by the Queen with the Order of the Companion of St. Michael and St. George (CMG.). He died in Melbourne on 11 February 1975, aged seventy-four years.

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Archival resources

National Archives of Australia, Melbourne Office

  • Papers of A.E. Monk, 1920 - 1975, M1171; National Archives of Australia, Melbourne Office. Details

Published resources

Online Resources

See also

Ross G. Elford

Created: 8 January 2002, Last modified: 23 August 2004