The coal lumpers of Sydney

Abstract

The occupation of coal lumper receded from public view and from historical awareness as the use of coal for steam power declined through the last century. But in the early twentieth century coal lumpers were a substantial presence on the Sydney waterfront, because coal was essential for a steam-driven international economy. In Australia coal lumpers are often subsumed within the historically dominant wharf labourers’ story because, like wharf labourers, they also loaded and unloaded ships, and in many ports unions representing the two occupations often amalgamated.