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John "Jack" Joseph Simons (also widely known and referred to as J. J. Simons and J. J. "Boss" Simons (12 August 1882 – 24 October 1948) was an Australian businessman and politician, best known for establishing the Young Australia League.

Early life

Simons was born at

Clare, South Australia The town of Clare is located in South Australia in the Mid North region, 136 km north of Adelaide. It gives its name to the Clare Valley wine and tourist region. At the , Clare itself had a population of 3160 as part of an urban area wit ...

to Thomas Simons, a

currier A currier is a specialist in the leather processing industry. After the tanning Tanning may refer to: * Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather * Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin ** Indoor tanning, the use o ...

, and Margaret Simons, née Henry, a

schoolteacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. In about 1896 he arrived at

Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can als ...

where he worked for a

tinsmith A tinsmith is a person who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession may sometimes also be known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profession, though the same w ...

. He developed an interest in labour issues with a strong belief in nationalist policies as well as becoming a prominent advocate against conscription. At he was confident and charismatic and developed strong debating skills.

Australian rules football Administrator

He was secretary of the Western Australian Football League from 1905 to 1914 and in 1905 established the Young Australia Football League. The same year together with

Lionel Boas Lionel Tobias Boas (1875 – 16 August 1949) was a prominent public official from Western Australia. Biography Early life Lionel Tobias Boas was born in 1875 in South Australia. His father was Rabbi Abraham Boas (1844–1923). Career He mov ...

, the YAFL was renamed to become the Young Australia League which aimed to promote healthy outdoor activities for Western Australian youth, particularly boys. The organisation flourished for many years and expanded to other states. Simons was referred to by YAL members as "Boss Simons". Simons acted as tour manager for most representative teams including the West Australian team. Simons promotional work led to the establishment of

Australian rules football in the United States Australian rules football in the United States (most commonly referred to simply as "Footy" but sometimes "Aussie Rules" or AFL) is a team and spectator sport which has grown rapidly since the late 1990s. It was originally introduced to the Unit ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, the first Australian national team to tour overseas and the first two national teams dedicated to the sport to tour Australia.

Education

He was secretary of the Western Australian State School Teachers Union until 1917 and was State president of the

Australian Natives' Association The Australian Natives' Association (ANA) was a mutual society founded in Melbourne, Australia in April 1871. It was founded by and for the benefit of native-born white Australians and membership was restricted exclusively to that group. The A ...

in 1910–11. He was secretary of the Western Australian Trotting Association in 1913–14, later being made a life member.

Politics

In the 1917 federal election he unsuccessfully contested the

Division of Fremantle The Division of Fremantle is an electoral division of the Australian House of Representatives in Western Australia. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistrib ...

for

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

. Simons campaigned with

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...

until they disagreed after Simons wrote newspaper articles criticising trade unionists, referring to strikers as "Trade Union Trash". In

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in Brazil. ** The Spanish liner ''Santa Isabel'' breaks ...

he won the Seat of East Perth in the state parliament. He resigned his seat on 1 November 1922 and subsequently nominated as a candidate for the resulting by-election on 18 November 1922, but was defeated by the Labor candidate,

Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 182222 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel '' Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended ...

. He supported

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

James Mitchell's land development and migration programmes and the ill-fated

Kendenup Kendenup is a small town in the Great Southern (Western Australia), Great Southern region of Western Australia, within the Shire of Plantagenet. It is known for its view of Porongorup and the Stirling ranges. It is south east of Perth and nort ...

community established by Jack De Garis in 1920. Simons Road in the town is named in his honour.

Publishing

Simons was active in publishing, producing an annual ''Australian Junior'' from 1906 to 1911 as well as the monthly ''Boomerang'', edited from 1914 by himself as an extension to YAL activities. In 1918 he established the ''

Call Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call, a type of betting in poker * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from Lahore, Pak ...

'', a sports focussed weekly newspaper with

Victor Courtney Victor Desmond Courtney (27 May 1894 – 1 December 1970) was a Western Australian journalist and newspaper editor. From small beginnings in a partnership (with Jack Simons) in a weekly sporting newspaper, ''The Call'', through to a Saturd ...

, and in 1921 in a partnership with Courtney purchased a struggling Saturday-evening paper, '' The Mirror'' building its circulation during the 1920s to over 10,000. In 1926 Simons published ''Reflections'', a collection of his own beliefs and experiences. In 1935, a syndicate led by Simons and including Courtney and mining entrepreneur Claude de Bernales purchased Western Press Limited, the publishers of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

'' for £55,000. Simons was managing director until his death in 1948.

Death

Simons died of heart disease in 1948 and was buried in the Roman Catholic section of

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

. His epitaph reads "I am the Spirit of the League". Several years before his death he assigned his interest in Western Press to the Y.A.L. which yielded over £50,000 to the organisation. When the 3-tier grandstand at

Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood. Subiaco Oval was the hig ...

was opened on 31 August 1969, it was named the "J J Simons-W R Orr-R W Hill Grandstand", partly in his honour. In 2019, Simons was inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame.