South Australia - Industrial Relations

Eight-Hour Day

Also see Port Adelaide - Industrial Relations. A poem entitled "The Eight Hours' Debate" is in the Register,
27 September 1862, page 3b; also see
23 and 24 February 1863, pages 3f and 2h,
7,16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27 and 28 April 1863, pages 2h, 3e, 3d, 3b, 3h, 3a, 2c-h, 2h and 3c, 18 May 1863, page 3f.

A meeting at Port Adelaide in respect of the
"Eight Hour's System" is reported in the Observer,
21 February 1863, page 4e; also see
11 and 25 April 1863, pages 7h and 5d.

The editor of the Register makes the following comment on 7 February 1865, page 2b:

Cooperation among working men is not the bugbear it was a few years ago. It has its legitimate uses, and the public are beginning to see their advantage... By their own means and in their own way [they should] obtain useful instruction and recreation.

The Eight Hours System is discussed in the Register,
20 December 1869, page 2e,
Observer,
1 January 1870, page 10a,
The Irish Harp,
11 July 1873, page 4a,
Register,
27 and 28 June 1873, pages 5f and 6b,
1, 2, 5, and 16 July 1873, pages 5d, 5f, 5d-e and 5f,
2 and 6 September 1873, pages 6c and 6d -
Henry Ayers makes his contribution to this subject on
17 January 1874, page 6c; also see
2 September 1876, page 5e,
1 and 2 September 1881, pages 4f and 6c - the following are the first and last stanzas of a prize winning poem:

Eight hours to sleep in midnight deep,
Eight hours of toil a day,
Eight hours to rove its learning's groves,
For pleasure and for play.

A poem on the eight-hour day is in the Observer,
9 September 1876, page 13g, in
The Lantern,
10, 17 and 24 September 1881, pages 2, 7 and 5,
22 and 29 October 1881, pages 11 and 7
A sketch of an Eight Hour Day procession is in the Pictorial
Australian in
October 1876,
October 1886, page 145,
October 1890, page 132.

A proposed "eight-hour holiday" is discussed in the Register,
23 July 1881, page 5b.

Also see The Lantern,
10 September 1881, page 2,
24 September 1881, page 5,
Register,
14, 15 and 19 September 1882, pages 6b, 4e and 5f,
2 September 1884, pages 4e-5g,
2 September 1885, pages 4f-6a,
1 and 2 September 1886, pages 4f and 4d-5g,
1 and 2 September 1886, pages 4f and 4d-5g,
1 September 1887, page 4e,
11 July 1888, page 7h,
12 August 1889, page 4f,
2 and 3 September 1889, pages 4g and 4c.

"The Pioneers Eight Hours Picnic" is in the Observer,
7 September 1878, page 10g.

A cartoon is in The Lantern,
6 September 1884, page 13; also see
7 September 1889, page 7 (cartoon and text).

"The Eight Hours System and G.E. Fulton & Co" is in the Express,
9 July 1888, page 3e.

For an account of its origin see Register,
20 September 1887, page 6e and
Observer,
8 September 1900, page 32a; also see
Register,
3 and 4 September 1888, pages 4g and 4g-6a,
20 and 22 July 1891, pages 7d and 4g,
1 and 2 September 1891, pages 4f and 6a,
1 and 2 September 1892, pages 4e and 4d,
1 and 2 September 1893, pages 4f-6c and 4d-5d,
3 September 1895, page 4d,
1 September 1903, page 4c.

Its introduction into the public service is discussed in the Express,
15 and 20 July 1891, pages 6c and 3g.

"Origin of the Eight Hours" is in the Weekly Herald,
10 September 1897, page 2b,
"How Eight Hours Day Originated" is in the Advertiser,
11 October 1910, page 9d,
11 October 1911, page 9a,
7 October 1913, page 9a,
"Pioneers of the Eight-Hour Movement" on
7 and 10 October 1923, pages 10e and 9b.

Biographical details of Joseph Thompson are in the Observer,
5 September 1896, page 16d,
of Jonathon Hosking on
3 September 1898, page 16a,
of George Brand on
9 September 1899, page 16a,
of H.J. Pudney on
7 September 1901, page 35d,
of Henry Jenkin in the Register,
1 September 1899, page 6f.
An obituary of J.F. Sparshott is in the Observer,
23 May 1914, page 39c.

Photographs of a celebration in Adelaide are in the Observer,
6 September 1902, page 24,
Chronicle,
13 September 1902, page 42,
5 September 1903, page 41,
10 September 1904, page 43; also see
The Herald,
29 September 1906, page 3 for the SA Drivers' Union participation.

"Some Eight Hours Day Reminiscences" is in The Herald,
5 September 1908, page 11a.

Its non-observance as a public holiday is discussed in the Register,
1 and 8 September 1910, pages 8 and 5f.

An informative article is in the Register,
13 October 1910, page 6b (includes photographs); also see
11 and 12 October 1911, pages 6c-8b and 6,
The Critic,
11 October 1911, page 3.

Information on the day is in the Register,
12 October 1927, pages 8e-10 (photographs).

An obituary of John Chapman, "the last surviving member of the original eight-hour's day committee", is in the Register, 26 November 1927, page 14b.

"A Beclouded Festival" is discussed in the Register, 10 October 1928, page 8c:

For many of the older supporters of the cause it may be a day of vain regrets. For the really intelligent members of the party, however, it ought to serve as a timely reminder that Labour has failed in proportion as it has forsaken the honest and practical principles for which Eight Hours Day once stood.

Industrial Relations - Choose again

South Australia - Industrial Relations

See Also:

Eight-Hour Day