Obituaries Australia

The death of William Pitt Hammond, of Ainslie, has removed one of the pioneers of the Labour movement in Canberra and a well-known identity since the early construction days of the National Capital.

The late Mr. Hammond was born in Hobart in 1870 and when a young man participated in the Western Australian gold rush in the early nineties.

After working for some time in Western Australia, he returned to Captain's Flat, which was then experiencing the first signs of a gold boom and set up in business there. He married in 1899 and later moved to Cobargo, where he took over the Post Office Hotel. The deceased left Cobargo in 1921 and arrived in Canberra early in 1922.

He became a clerk to the late Jerry Dillon, foreman of the sewer construction gang, and one of the most dynamic men the capital has known. He transferred in later years to the Parks and Gardens, retiring in 1940, although during the war years he was employed as a reader at the Government Printing-office.

He was a foundation member of the A.L.P., which was formed in Canberra in 1927, and with Mr. S. J. Blumenthal and Mr. A. E. Gardiner was appointed to a special Disputes Committee by the then Minister for Interior (Arthur Blakely).

The late Mr. Hammond nominated for the first Advisory Council in 1930 as an A.L.P. candidate, but was unsuccessful.

He was one of the staunch men of the industrial movement in Canberra and fought tirelessly for better conditions for workers. We lost a good fighter in the late Mr. Hammond, said the secretary of the A.C.T. Trades and Labour Council (Mr. S. J. Blumenthal) yesterday.

Mr. Blumenthal added that when the deceased became interested in a case, he worked so tirelessly that he often forgot his own well-being.

The deceased is survived by a widow, Mrs. Catherine Hammond, a daughter Jessie (Mrs. Roberts), and four sons, Pat, Jack, Joe and Fred.

Two of his sons, Frank and Charles, pre-deceased him.