MR R. C. REVELL

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27065, 13 June 1953, Page 8

MR R. C. REVELL

Well known as a union secretary and • organiser 20 to 30 years ago, Mr Henry Charles Revell died at Kaiapoi on Thursday. He was 79. Mr Revell was bom at Kaiapoi, and was- educated at the Kaiapoi and Rangiora schools. His first activities with industrial unions began when he oined the Shearers’ and Woolshed Workers’ Union, and later organised the Woollen Employees’ Union of Kaiapoi in 1901. The woollen mill workers at Kaiapoi obtained the first Arbitration Court award through the efforts of Mr Revell, and this award became the basis of other awards in the industry throughout the country. For 20 years he was secretary of this union. He entered the freezing industry in 1914, and was president of the Canterbury union for several years. From 1926 to 1931 he was secretary of the New Zealand Freezing Workers’ Federation. He became secretary of the Canterbury Freezing Workers’ Union in 1927, and held this position until his retirement in 1935. Mr Revell served on several local bodies in Kaiapoi. He was elected to the Kaiapoi Borough Council in 1011, and was Mayor of the borough in 1928 and 1929. He was a member, and later chairman, of the Kaiapoi District School Committee. Mr Revell was chairman of the Kaiapoi Workers' Educational Association, and a member of the Waimakariri Harbour Board. He was chairman of the Kaiapoi Fire Board from 1937 to 1942, and a member until April, 1949. Mr Revell was a member of the Kaiapoi senior Rugby team that won the Canterbury senior competition in the 1890’s, and played as a front-row forward in the Canterbury Rugby team in 1897 and 1898.