Ross, Robert Samuel

Robert Samuel Ross (1873-1931), socialist journalist and trade-union organizer, was born on 5 January 1873 in Sydney. Inspired by the writings of William Lane, who believed that a co-operative society could be constructed through trade-union organizations, Ross attempted to disseminate his principles among the unions. He worked energetically as a journalist, speaker and agitator and was a founder of the Queensland Socialist League in 1894 and Socialist Democratic Vanguard in 1900. Ross went to Broken Hill in January 1903 to become editor of the Barrier Truth, the 'voice' of the Broken Hill union movement. In May 1906 Ross launched the Flame, published by the Barrier Social Democratic Club of which he was chairman, writer and public speaker. One of his lifelong convictions, apparent in his association with the labour press, was that only through education and dissemination of propaganda would workers mobilize. As municipal librarian at Broken Hill in 1906-08, he introduced radical literature. In August 1908 Ross accepted an offer by the Victorian Socialist Party to become secretary and editor of its magazine, the Socialist. In 1911-13 he edited the Maoriland Worker in Wellington. Ross assisted in forming the Queensland Typographical Association, the Broken Hill branch of the Amalgamated Miners' Association and the Tailoresses' Union; he was a member of the Australian Workers' Union and the Melbourne Trades Hall Council delegate for the Federated Clerks' Union. He also edited several union publications. During the 1920s he was appointed publicity officer of Labor Papers Ltd and travelled extensively to gather funds to establish a labour daily newspaper. Self-educated himself and an omnivorous reader of socialist and rationalist literature, Ross contributed prolifically to labour journals. But his most notable literary achievement was the launching in 1915 of his own magazine, Ross's Monthly of Protest, Personality and Progress—an iconoclastic polemical journal which discussed cultural issues. It survived until 1924 when it was incorporated into Union Voice with Ross as editor. He was also a member of the Y-Club and ran Ross's Book Service which offered a wide variety of literature. Ross became council-member (1925) of the University of Melbourne and trustee (1928) of the Public Library, museums and National Gallery. In November 1930 he was appointed a commissioner of the State Savings Bank. Ross died on 24 September 1931 at Richmond.

journalist; socialist; newspaper editor; pacifist; trade union official; librarian; secularist

Entered 16 December 2019

Australian Dictionary of Biography http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ross-robert-samuel-8274 (accessed 16 December 2019)