Union Jack
by Dale Lorna Jacobsen
ISBN 978 1 876344801
(CopyRight Publishers, Brisbane)
I never knew my grandfather; he died too young and long before I was born. Details of his life were sketchy: he had migrated from the coalfields of Wales as a young man; had taken his bride to live in a navvy camp on the Mary Valley branchline; he held a position of importance in a railway union.
Determined to fill in the blank canvas that was Jack O’Leary, I trawled through nearly a century of records at the Rail, Tram and Bus Union in Brisbane. A fascinating tale of political intrigue emerged that reached to the very top of the Australian government.
My grandfather and his union — the Australian Railways Union (forerunner of the RTBU) — had, by remaining true to their ideology, played a major role in bringing corrupt politicians to account, an action that deeply affected Jack’s life and his family.
As I began documenting Jack’s story, drawing on crumbling newspapers and bound minute books — each page, recorded in copperplate handwriting, signed by Jack — the characters jostled one another to leap into life. I needed to loosen my grip on the recorded facts and set these characters free to tell their own story. My role would be to ensure they told their tales truthfully.
RRP $25 + p&p
