Obituaries Australia

John Coupe

Labor Call (Melbourne), 26 June 1913, p 10

With regret we have to announce the death of an old and tried Laborite, Mr. J. C. [John Charles] Coupe, formerly of Preston, and latterly a resident of Portarlington. Always a sturdy Democrat of the old Chartist type, Mr. Coupe joined the Preston Branch of the P.L.C. almost at its inception. He rapidly pushed his way to the front, was elected president, and in the strenuous campaigning of 1904-5 earned for himself the sobriquet of "the old general."

In 1906 he removed to Portarlington district, where he took up farming pursuits. Here, on many occasions, he proved himself a thorn in the side of traducers of the Labor party. He was never happier than when, by a well-directed question, or interjection, he succeeded in "nailing" the villainous falsehoods so often uttered at public meetings by the opponents of the Labor movement. On such occasions he was never slow to take the platform to vindicate the principles of Democracy. His death occurred on Wednesday, June 4, at the age of 70 years, the cause being pneumonia.

We have it on the authority of his family that, although he knew his end was near, he continued to take the keenest interest in the progress reports of the Federal elections and the Referenda ballot, until "his eyes were dimmed in death."

In private, the late Mr. Coupe was closely associated with the dog and poultry fancy, being for many years the most popular dog judge in Australasia. Both in the Labor movement and in the "doggy world" his death will be deplored by a large circle of friends and admirers.