Deposit P117 - Jack and Ruth Davison deposit

John (Jack) Davison, born on 4 October 1899, joined the Amalgated Society of Engineers (UK) as an apprentice member on 19 June 1920, and became a full member on 8 Ocotober 1921. On 29 May 1928 he left England for Australia arriving in Sydney on 10 July 1928. On 19 July 1928 he joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union (Sydney 4th District Branch). In 1933 and 1934 he was Honorary Secretary of the Lidcombe Emergency Relief Workers (Sydney) and from October 1935 to November 1944 was Secretary of the AEU (Sydney 4th District Branch). From May 1941 to July 1945 Davison was referee to the Commonwealth Council of the AEU. On 20 March 1963 he retired and became Secretary of the AEU Retired Members' Association (Sydney District) from 1965 to 1974. Davison died on 27 May 1975.

Ruth Davison (nee Emery) was born in 1902 at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. She was one of five children and her parents supported the Labour Party. Ruth's then intended husband, John William (Jack) Davison after 4.5 years of unemployment had sailed to Australia in 1928. She sailed soon after he found a job in Sydney, arriving in July 1929, and married Jack Davison soon after. In the 1930s Ruth Davison joined the 'Women against War' movement in Wollongong and was almost jailed for illegally addressing meetings on the dangers of fascism. She also joined the Union of Australia Women after it was formed in 1950. When World War II was over Ruth Davison became an active member of the Australian peace movement and a volunteer for the Peace Committee. She died in 1994.