Billy Duggan

Who was Billy Duggan?

William Joseph "Billy" Duggan was an Australian trade unionist who served as the first president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

Duggan was born in Melbourne to ironoulder William Duggan and Elizabeth Margaret, née Whitmore. He attended local state schools before working as an estate agent and plumber, eventually joining the navy. In his early years he developed both his penchant for self-education and his boxing skills. He later left the navy to return to plumbing. On 12 March 1910 he married Frances Annie Barratt at St James Old Cathedral. In March 1912, as a member of the Commonwealth Military Cadet Corps, he was commissioned lieutenant, but in 1913 he resigned; despite his early support for military training he would oppose conscription during the 1916–17 referenda.

Duggan had joined the United Operative Plumbers and Gasfitters' Society of Victoria in 1910. He was state vice-president from August 1911 until his election as first organiser in January 1912. In 1914 he became first secretary of the Building Trades Federation, and in March 1918 he sat on the Shipbuilding Tribunal.