Walter James Knox (6 March 1919 – 1 December 1991) was a leading New Zealand trade union leader. He was the seventh appointee to the

Order of New Zealand The Order of New Zealand is the highest honour in the New Zealand royal honours system, created "to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity". It was instituted by royal warrant on 6 F ...

Early life and family

Knox was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

on 6 March 1919. His parents were Doris May () and Walter William Knox. Knox was educated at Auckland Normal School.

Career and honours

Leaving school aged 15, Knox first worked in a foundry where he was badly scarred. Aged 16, he started an apprenticeship in the footwear trade upon his father's initiative. Knox worked as a truck driver and watersider, becoming involved in the 1951 waterside strike, and rose through the union ranks to become secretary of the Auckland District Woollen Mills Employees’ Union and vice president of the Auckland Trades Council in 1961. In 1969, Knox became secretary of the New Zealand Federation of Labour, working alongside the organisation's president, Sir Tom Skinner. Skinner, Knox and other trade union leaders Ken Douglas, Bill Andersen, Pat Kelly, Blue Kennedy and Con Devitt were all well known in New Zealand 1980s due to ongoing industrial action. In 1977, Knox was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal. On 6 February 1988, he was the seventh appointee to the

."The Order of New Zealand" (12 February 1988) 23 ''

New Zealand Gazette The ''New Zealand Gazette'' (), commonly referred to as ''Gazette'', is the official newspaper of record the New Zealand Government (government gazette), serving as the medium by which decisions of Government are promulgated. Published since ...

'' 447 at 448. In 1990, he received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.

Personal life

Knox played

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

for the Suburbs club in Auckland before switching codes and playing

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

for the City Rovers in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

competition. His sports injuries made him unfit for war service during World War II. Knox was married twice, first to Margaret Joyce Svendsen in 1943, they had two children and a long marriage, then to Elizabeth Watson Bell Curtis (née Norrie) in 1983.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knox, Jim 1919 births 1991 deaths 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen City Rovers players Members of the Order of New Zealand New Zealand justices of the peace New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand trade unionists People from Auckland Rugby league players from Auckland