Agency:
Walter Woods
Agency Number:
Start Date:
28 Dec 1861
End Date:
28 Feb 1939
Description:
Walter Alan Woods (1861-1939), journalist and politician, was born on 28 December 1861 at Mulgrave, Victoria, the son of William Head and Ann Margaret (formerly Priest). In his youth, he travelled through the Riverina, New South Wales, working as a shearer, an experience which he documented in poetry as 'John Drayman'. He quickly rose to prominence as a labour organiser and journalist. He belonged to the utopian New Australia Movement but family circumstances prevented his joining the colony in Paraguay.;;In 1895, he arrived in Launceston, Tasmania to work on the Tasmanian Democrat and later, in Hobart, on the Clipper, both labor-orientated newspapers. He became heavily involved in numerous labor and trade union activities and eventually won a seat in the Tasmanian House of Assembly. His parliamentary career spanned over twenty years.;;Among his papers, are records of the Labor Party, Tasmanian Workers Political League, Housewives Union, Young Australia National Party, Proportional Representation Society and the New Australia Movement.;;
Information Sources:
Marilyn Lake, 'Woods, Walter Alan (1861-1939)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University
Series Created By Agency:
NS139/9 Miscellaneous Papers of Walter Woods | 08 Dec 1852 | 31 Dec 1917 |
NS139 Records of Walter Woods including Records of Various Organisations in Which He Was Involved | 01 Jan 1894 | 24 Apr 1939 |
NS139/6 Correspondence and associated Papers relating to the New Australia Movement | 01 Jan 1895 | 31 Dec 1945 |
NS139/8 Letterbooks, Correspondence and associated Papers of Walter Woods | 01 Jan 1897 | 30 Mar 1939 |
NS139/10 Newspaper Notebooks of Walter Woods | 01 Jan 1898 | 31 Dec 1899 |
NS139/1 Records relating to the "Clipper" - Newspaper | 01 Jan 1902 | 27 Jan 1910 |
NS139/3 Correspondence. Pamphlets and Photographs relating to the Labour Movement | 01 Jan 1904 | 31 Dec 1913 |
NS139/4 Records of the Tasmanian Workers Political League | 01 Jan 1904 | 03 Jun 1908 |
NS139/7 Correspondence and Printed Papers relating to the Young Australia National Party and the Proportional Representation Society | 01 Jan 1907 | 31 Dec 1914 |
NS139/2 Papers and Share Certificates of W a Woods relating to the "Daily Post" | 01 Jan 1910 | 31 Dec 1914 |
NS139/5 Records of the Housewives Union, Hobart | 01 Jan 1912 | 31 Dec 1919 |