Family background
William Edward (or Edmund) Joseph Simmons was born on 1 January 1868 at Patrick Plains, NSW, the son of Edward (or Edmond) Henry Simmons and Julia Bell.
He married Emily Florence Poole at Sydney on 24 July 1895 and they had 2 sons. The couple divorced in 1913. He married Ada Lillian Luff at St Leonards in 1918. He lived at 15 Middle Street, Randwick.
Simmons died on 17 June 1936 at Newtown, NSW, aged 68 years and was buried in Botany Cemetery.
Occupation & interests
A Labor alderman, William Simmons worked as a piano tuner, and had strong links with the trade union movement. He stood for election on the Lang Plan platform and though a disciple of J T Lang, in reality there was little difference in ideology between Official Labor and Lang Labor. Both were socially conservative and anti-Communist.
In November 1897, Simmons was charged with obtaining money by false pretences, posing as a jockey to collect £2 from a bet placed on a race. He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. The sentence was suspended under the provisions of the First Offenders Act 1894, however, Simmons was arraigned on a similar charge but was found not guilty the following month.
Local government service
William Simmons was an alderman for an alderman for Redfern Council, representing Golden Grove Ward in 1934-36.
References
SIMMONS William Edward Joseph, State Archives and Records of NSW, INX-84-18323, https://search.records.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/1e5kcq1/INDEX2066666
‘Charge of False Pretences’, Australian Star, 16 November 1897, p. 8, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article231805641
‘Results of Polling for ‘Municipal Elections’, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 December 1934, p.13, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1711605