Family background
Ernest Banner was born in 1858 at Kingswood, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, the son of Benjamin Banner and Martha Furber. He married Sarah Brookes (1858-1942) in July 1883 at Aston, Warwickshire, England. He and his wife immigrated to Sydney in 1883 on board the ship “Rialto” and in Sydney they had four sons and two daughters. Banner died at his residence ‘Bourneville, Gerald Street, Marrickville’, on 30 May 1914, aged 55 years; he was buried in the Church of England Section at Woronora Cemetery. Banner left a Will and his estate and assets were assessed at £1,030. He lived at Jesson Street, Alexandria.
Occupation & interests
Ernest Banner was an ex-railway man, and for a time in the 1890s, held the position of president of the Amalgamated Railway and Tramway Association. He was a contractor and builder by trade, and erected a large number of factories and dwellings in and around Redfern. Banner was a member of the Redfern Bowling Club and was a Freemason and a member of Lodge Tuscan, No18 UGL, NSW. In 1908 he became the first Labor-endorsed candidate to be elected to Council.
Community activity
Ernest Banner was a prominent Labour worker in the South Sydney district. He took a great interest in local affairs, was a prominent member of the Alexandria and Waterloo Workmen’s Institute and a Trustee of Erskineville Park. He was a Justice of the Peace (JP).
Parliamentary service
Ernest Banner was an unsuccessful candidate to represent Waterloo at the Legislative Assembly elections in 1895, 1896 and 1901.
Local government service
Ernest Banner served two terms on Alexandria Council: 1893-1902 and 1908-10. Following the retirement of Cornelius Hannan, Banner was elected an alderman for South Ward in 1893. In 1908 he was elected as an alderman for the West Ward. Banner served as mayor in 1896 and 1900, and was the Returning Officer in 1896.
References
‘Borough of Alexandria’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 March 1893, p. 1, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13900908
The Daily Telegraph, 25 June 1894, p. 5, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/236153925
‘Personal’, Australian Town and Country Journal, 10 June 1914, p. 27, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article263735103
‘Banner, Ernest’, Railway Personal History Card, State Archives NSW, NRS-12922-1-[11/16559]-[314], https://search.records.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/1ebnd1l/ADLIB_RNSW113637748