John Hepher (16 October 1850 – 3 August 1932) was an English-born Australian politician. He was born in

Swavesey Swavesey is a village lying on the Prime meridian (Greenwich), Prime Meridian of the world in Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 2,463. The village is situated 9 miles to the north west of Cambridge and 3 miles south east of St Ives, ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, to John Hepher (tailor) and Esther Wilderspin. He followed his father's trade and was also active in the union movement around

Newcastle-on-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , RP: ), is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located on the River Tyne's northern bank opposite Gateshead to the ...

. He migrated to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

around 1882, and on 5 December 1884 married Edith Penrose Robinson, with whom he had seven children. He was foundation chairman of the Redfern Labour League, served as treasurer of the

Australian Socialist League The Socialist Labor Party was a socialist political party of Australia that existed from 1901 to the 1970s. Originally formed as the Australian Socialist League in 1887, it had members such as George Black, New South Wales Premier William Hol ...

in 1894, and was president of the New South Wales Tailors' Union. He helped draft the first Labor Party platform, and was president and trustee of the Eight-Hour Committee. In 1899 he was appointed to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

. He remained there until his death in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 1932.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hepher, John 1850 births 1932 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Colony of New South Wales people People from South Cambridgeshire District British emigrants to colonial Australia