Unlocking the Past | William Kearsley: the miners' friend

William Kearsley was born in Stafford, England in 1863 and as a young man trained to be a Methodist Minister in Manchester. He immigrated to Australia in 1889, settling in the Hunter region and working as a Methodist minister. He later moved to the Kurri Kurri area, working as a coal miner in a number of different collieries. He married Betsy Wilkinson in 1898 and they had three children, a daughter and two sons.

By 1907 William had become active in the Colliery Employees Federation, bringing the conviction of his Christian faith and his natural compassion to his new role as an industrial organiser. He was effective, striving and achieving real improvements in the working lives and living conditions of the miners.

Buoyed by this success, in 1910 William successfully stood for election as a member of the Australian Labor Party. His local popularity saw him easily elected and he became the member for Northumberland in the NSW Legislative Assembly. He continued as a parliamentarian for the rest of his life, as the Member for Northumberland, Cessnock and Newcastle.

The village that bears his name, formerly called Edenville, was proclaimed on November 19, 1913.

William was notable for his selfless service and advocacy for the rights and welfare of miners, whose cause was close to his heart. He was known as 'the miner's friend', someone who had not forgotten the plight of ordinary people despite achieving high parliamentary office.

He served as the member for Northumberland until his sudden and premature death on June 19, 1921. The shock of William's passing caused a spontaneous outpouring of grief. On the day of his funeral collieries closed to allow miners to attend and local businesses shut their doors.

Over a thousand people attended his final farewell at Cessnock Methodist Church and more than 250 vehicles followed the hearse to Cessnock Cemetery for his burial. The streets were packed with people and as the cortege passed by they bowed their heads.

The people never forgot William Kearsley. A committee was formed to build a permanent memorial to him and in 1925 the Kearsley Memorial gates were installed at South Cessnock (now Baddeley) Park. These gates were moved in 1984 and are now at the entrance to Kearsley Public School.