Obituaries Australia

Adolph Timmann, n.d.

Herald (Adelaide), 26/12/1908, p 11

The death of a comrade is saddening at any time, but, when the hand of the Reaper falls during the festive Christmas season, the blow to those bereft of a husband, a father, or a friend is felt more keenly by contrast with the gaiety and laughter of the pleasure-making world.

With deep regret—regret for those who will miss him—we have to record the death of one of Labor's staunchest fighters, which occurred on December 18.

The late Adolph A. Timmann was born in Germany on January 29, 1860, and came to South Australia in his early manhood. In this life he was too busy with the affairs of his fellowmen, their sufferings and struggles, to trouble or worry about a probable hereafter. It was characteristic that, instead of a minister of religion to read the conventional words over his grave he, almost with his last breath, expressed a wish that a member of the Party for which he worked so wholeheartedly should speak his requiem.

The solemn duty devolved upon Mr. R. P. Blundell, M.P., who was particularly fitted to speak of his virtues and deeds, as he commenced his apprenticeship at Dungey, Ralph, & Co's factory at which the late Mr. Timmann was foreman at the time.

Mr. Blundell's feeling address conveys some idea (so far as mere words can do so) of our late comrade's services to the cause and to humanity. The speaker first touched upon his early personal acquaintanceship, and acknowledged the kindness, assistance, and advice which he received from the older and more experienced man. There was never an appeal made to his heart in vain; no case of sickness or distress among shopmates occurred without a most generous response from Adolph A. Timmann. Indeed, he obeyed the biblical injunction, 'Let not thy left hand know what thy right doeth,' and no one knows how much good he did with that unobtrusiveness which was his great characteristic in deeds of charity.

Dealing with his more active public labors, Mr. Blundell mentioned that the deceased founded the East Adelaide Committee cf the United Labor Party, and, while his health permitted, was a delegate on the council of the Party from its inception. During the Labor slump he practically kept the committee of his electorate alive, and it is known that he frequently disbursed money from his not too-well-filled pocket to further the Labor cause. After the big strike of 1890, when unionism received a severe set-back, he was one of those who urged the following of the 'Register's' advice, to turn attention to the ballot-box. He was one of the moving spirits who secured the return of Messrs. Guthrie and Charleston, and in 1891 was largely instrumental in putting the late J. A. McPherson into Parliament as the first Labor member of the House of Assembly. Right to the time of his death his interest in all Labor matters was unflagging and keen, although ill-health prevented his active participation in the fight for the past two years. He was one of the founders of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Verein Club, in which he has always held some position since its inception, and has occupied every responsible office in the club. At his instigation the present big building in Grenfell Street was built.

Mr. Blundell concluded his address with a sincere tribute to the late comrade's worth as a man. He said that he had not had time to speculate upon a future life, believing without doubt that his duty was to make the best of this world for those who lived and labored upon it. His religion was the practical one of striving to assist all who were down-trodden and forlorn. If there should prove to be a hereafter, his innumerable deeds of kindness and his work for humanity would stand to his credit and secure him the reward of a place in the land of Eternal Rest. The speaker closed with Hood's words—

Calmly he looked on either life,
Here saw nothing to regret, or there to fear;
From Nature's temperate repast rose satisfied.
Thank Heaven that he had lived and that he had died.

The Allgemeiner Choir sang hymns in German as the body was carried to the hearse, as it lay at the graveside, and when it was committed to the earth. A large number of legislators (including Senators McGregor and Story, Representative Roberts, Messrs. F. W. Coneybeer and W. D. Ponder, M.P.'s), Laborites, and friends attended the funeral to show their respect to the memory of one who had been indeed a man.

As might be expected, considering that the late comrade could never turn a deaf ear to an appeal for help, his widow and two children are left poorly provided with this world's goods.