Family background
James O’Leary was born at Glebe in 1908, youngest son of John and Jane Mary O’Leary. Unmarried, he died at Glebe on 7 July 1981, aged 73 years.
Occupation & interests
James O’Leary worked as an X-ray mechanic.
Community activity
Many Glebe Labor aldermen were disciples of Lang. But in reality there was little difference in ideology between Official Labor and Lang Labor. Both were explicitly anti-Conservative, socially conservative, strongly Catholic and with strong links to the union movement.
Local government service
O’Leary served as an alderman on Glebe Council from 1941 to 1944. He was one of five Lang Labor elected to Glebe Council in 1941, together with three McKell Labor men, and for the first time the Glebe Municipal Reform Association, a coalition of anti-Labor forces, returned four candidates.
References
Hogan, Michael 2004, Local labor: a history of the Labor Party in Glebe, 1891-2003, Federation Press, Annandale, NSW
Sydney Morning Herald, 5 February 1941, p. 12
Sydney Morning Herald, 9 July 1981, p. 20