Walter Russell Crampton
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The Hon Jack Crampton |
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| Member of the Queensland Legislative Council | |
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In office 10 October 1917 – 23 March 1922 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Walter Russell Crampton 3 July 1877 Redfern, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 20 October 1938 (aged 61) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Spouse(s) | Amy Maria Beadle (m.1903 d.1952) |
| Occupation | Newspaper editor and general manager, Meatworker, Company director |
| Religion | Church of England |
Walter Russell (Jack) Crampton (3 July 1877 – 20 October 1938) was an Australian trade unionist, journalist and politician. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council, until he voted (with others) to abolish the Council.
Crampton was born in 1877 in Redfern, New South Wales, Australia, the eldest child of Walter James Crampton and Sarah Phillips.
He left school at age 14 and then "humped his swag" around western New South Wales. He came to Queensland in 1898.
He married Amy Maria Beadle on 2 January 1903 in Townsville, Queensland. They had five children: Raymond, Morrie, Madge, Jack and Jill.
He was commonly known as Jack Crampton.
Walter died on 20 October 1938 at Brisbane, Queensland after a short illness. He was cremated at the Mt Thompson Crematorium.
In April 1892 Crampton joined the Slaughtermen's Union in April 1892, beginning a lifelong association with the union movement. He moved to Queensland in 1898 and was working as a meatworker in northern Queensland where he became concerned about the conditions of working men. In particular, he was concerned that many abbatoirs would only employ workers on contracts that gave them no job security.
In 1904, he had moved to Brisbane and became the full-time organizer for the Australasian Federated Butchers' Employees' Union in 1908. In this role, he worked tirelessly to unionise the abbatoirs of North Queensland. When managers would turn him away from their premises, he would slog through mud flats and bush to find a back entrance to the workplaces to talk with the workers.
Crampton sought to achieve greater unionisation in all workplaces. From 1910 to 1913, he was a member of the central political executive of the Australian Labor Federation. In 1911 he established the southern district branch of the Amalgamated Workers' Association and was involved in organising the sugar workers' strike at Mackay, Queensland. In 1912, he became President of the Brisbane branch of the Australian Labor Federation.
In 1912, Crampton stood for election as a member of the Australian Labor Party for the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for the seat of Windsor, but was not successful. Instead he became secretary of the Queensland branch of Australasian Federated Butchers' Employees' Union.
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