A formidable woman we have a lot to be thankful for

 Sometime ago wandering around Rookwood I came across a headstone that noted the person buried there was a recipient of the Order of Australia medal - I took a photo to research further. I've done a bit of that this week and came across someone many of us have never heard off. Here's what I found.

FLORENCE AMY (FLO) CLUFF

Florence - or Flo as she became known as - was born in November 1092 at Chillagoe Queensland, fifth of nine children to Frederick William Davis, a railway carpenter, and wife Florence Emma. Flo attended nearby schools as well as Cairns District High School from 1917 returning home as a pupil-teacher in 1919. After her father died in a a railway bridge accident in 1921, she left teaching to look after her mother and brothers but within months her mother also died. Unable to return to teaching, she married Robert Kershaw, a labourer, in November 1921. In 1931 she went to Brisbane, where she worked on hotels to support herself and her two younger brothers. The following year she and Kershaw divorced.

Flo moved to Sydney in 1935 and worked at a Pitt Street Cafe for up to fourteen hours a day, for a weekly wage of about £2. During the Depression years union membership had dropped off dramatically and as general work reduced, employers were not compelled to meet award conditions due to the desperate nature of the job market and activists were simply dismissed. At meetings of the Hotel, Club, Restaurant, Caterers, Tea Rooms & Boarding House Employees' Union of NSW, Flo met members of the communist party, Topsy Small and Vic Workman.  Flo, who in the past had been more interested in dancing than union matters, started opening her eyes to injustice to workers. 


Flo Cluff - State Library of NSW

At this time, Flo fell pregnant but managed to find work as a part-time (mid-day) waitress after the birth and in February 1937 joined the Communist Party of Australia. In February 1940 she married Geoffrey Davis, soldier, former waiter and father of her daughter only to later divorce. 

Flo linked up with Topsy Small and Vic Workman in the Hotel, Club and Restaurant Employees Union (HCR).  The three of them then set about to change the nature between the union and the industry. 

In 1939 Topsy was elected an organiser at the HCR and in 1940 Flo was elected to the Executive and soon after became a full-time organiser. In 1941 Flo was elected Assistant Secretary and Secretary the following year. She was only the second female union secretary to be elected in Australia.

Flo was a delegate to the Labor Council for 30 years and played a leading role in the struggle for equal pay for women and although not yet fully achieved, she and others made great advances towards equal pay.

She was a strong advocate of country trade union organisation and under her leadership the five-day working week in the catering industry was established. Although still championing the rights of workers in the hospitality industry, she still found time to devote energy to the struggle for women's rights. In 1968 when she retired from the union, Flo was named Woman of the Year by the International Women's Day Committee. 

Flo married Eric Cluff in October 1975 and after travelling around Australia they joined the Petersham group of the Combined Pensioners' Association of NSW. Although Flo enjoyed the social activities, her activism had not subsided and in 1979 she became assistant-secretary and the following year secretary of the State branch. She worked long days lobbying State and Federal Governments for better pensions, health and welfare services, utility rebates and transport concessions. In 1983 she led the campaign against the assets test on pensions. 

Flo was awarded the OAM - Order of Australia Medal - after a lifetime working for social justice. She resigned as secretary of the Combined Pensioners' Association in 1988.


Order of Australia medal - Wikipedia

Florence (Flo) Cluff died of heart failure on the 20th of September 1990 at Kogarah and lies now with Eric in the Independent lawn area of Rookwood cemetery.


Flo and Eric's headstone - Find a Grave

Flo proved to be a formidable female who continued to fight for fairness and equality in the hospitality industry and for pensioners later in her life. 

As I'm gearing up towards the age pension in a few months I have to applaud her for her hard work. Thank you, Flo!

For today's blog I have used references from the Australian Dictionary of Biography written by Danny Blackman and Obituaries Australia, State Library of NSW, Wikipedia and Find a Grave.

If you have any recollections of Flo or comments to add to this blog, please do so at the comments area or simply go to the Group Facebook page found under a search for 

Rookwood Cemetery Discoveries 

or simply send me a message via 

lorainepunch@gmail.com

Until next week!



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