Rheumatoid Arthritis Support

Clarey was born at Bairnsdale, Victoria, the fifth child of general agent Francis William Clarey and Jessie Littlejohn, née Lawson. The family soon moved to Melbourne, and Clarey attended South Yarra State School and the Working Men's College. In his youth, Clarey was crippled by rheumatoid arthritis, and walked with crutches for the rest of his life. Employed as a clerk, he was Victorian president of the Federated Clerks' Union of Australia by the time he was 24 and federal president at 27. He also served as federal president of both the Amalgamated Food Preservers' Union of Australia and the Federated Storemen and Packers' Union of Australia.

Clarey married schoolteacher Catherine Mary Isabel Chambers at Box Hill on 31 March 1917. They had two sons before their divorce in 1936. Catherine was also prominent in the labour movement, and was the Labor candidate for the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Caulfield in 1935, although she withdrew shortly before the poll.

Clarey continued to rise in the union movement, being president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party in 1934 and president of the Melbourne Trades Hall Council in 1935. During World War II, he was on the board of the Department of Munitions and the Manpower Priorities Board, as well as being a delegate to the 1944 International Labour Conference.


Adapted from the Wikipedia article Percy Clarey, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki