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Biographical Register
SHELLEY (previously
SHEEHY), Cecilia Moore (1893-1986)
B. 3 January 1893, Adelaide, SA. D. Francis Peter Sheehy (later
Shelley), brewery worker then cordial worker, & Honora, nee
O'Callaghan, housewife. M. Robert Jack Boniface 1935, divorced 1957.
No children. D. 6 May 1986, Perth, WA.
Moved with family to Kalgoorlie WA, 1897; received limited education
at Boulder Convent School; at 14 began work as kitchenmaid in miners'
boarding house, Kalgoorlie; then to Perth with family, working as
domestic servant and in hotel and catering work. Member of Hotel,
Club, Caterers, Tearooms and Restaurant Employees' Industrial Union,
Perth, from 1917; organiser, 1919, leading strike; elected secretary
1920 (one of first women to be elected a paid union secretary in
Australia), retaining post until 1968; delegate to Metropolitan
District Council of ALP. In 1920s built HCCTREU into one of largest
female unions in WA; led union in 22 week strike in 1921 over issue
of union preference; led further strike 1925 for wage increase and
44 hour week, strikers being labelled 'Shelley's Army' by press;
frequently represented union in Arbitration Court, shocking opponents
with vivid accounts of workers' conditions; assertive nature earned
her the title of 'Tigress of Trades Hall'. Member WA branch of CPA.
Also active member of ALP; member of WA ALP's Trade Unions Industrial
Council; pre-selected ALP candidate for Senate 1924; member ALP
State Executive; nominated for vice-president ALP State Executive
1924; secretary, WA Organisation of Labor Women, 1923. Expelled
from ALP and OLW 1925 for criticising Party leaders and publicly
criticised the preselection ballot during 1925 seamen’s strike;
unsuccessfully reapplied for ALP membership 1929. From 1920s, campaigned
for equal pay; with Katherine S. Pritchard (q.v.), organised Unemployed
Girls’ and Women’s Defence Committeee, 1932. Member, WA
Movement Against War and Fascism, 1934; member Modern Women’s
Club from 1938; member International Women’s Day Committee
from 1936, secretary, 1950; member Equal Pay and Equal Opportunity
Committee. As union secretary for 48 years, worked to extend award
coverage to country areas and to improve conditions for working
women; in 1963 finally succeeded in securing union preference in
some awards. In 1963, her position as union secretary contested
for first time, but retained post despite appeal; finally defeated
(by Michael Yakich, former union president) at re-election ordered
by Arbitration Court, 1968. Life Member, WA TLC, 1979.
Radi (ed.), 1988; J. Damousi Ph.D thesis, 1987; Australian Society,
June 1986; L. Batterham, 1992, ‘Cecilia M Shelley: Western
Australian Labour Activist, 1893-1986’, Papers in Labour
History, 14, Nov. 1994.
Linley Batterham
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