Rae Frances and Bruce Scates

OBITUARY

Francis Leslie (Frank) Farrell (1945–2005)

As former colleagues of Frank Farrell at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), we were saddened to hear of his unexpected death in June. Frank had left the University last year after 30 years on the staff in the School of History. We would like to take this opportunity to reflect on his career and contributions to the study of history, particularly to Australian labour history.	1
Frank Farrell was a late-comer to university study, having first completed several technical and trade courses at Sydney Technical College. In 1967 he enrolled at the Australian National University and graduated with first class honours in history in 1971. At the same time, he completed a Diploma in Education at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. He was awarded a postgraduate research scholarship at the ANU and graduated with a PhD in history in 1975. In the same year he was appointed as a lecturer at the University of New South Wales, where he remained for the rest of his working life.	2
Throughout his career, Frank Farrell was an enthusiastic and effective supporter of labour history. His major book, International Socialism and Australian Labour (1981), provided the most complete study to date of the organisation and ideas of the socialist Left and their relationships with the ALP and trade-unions between the wars. It remains a classic of Australian labour historiography. Like many other labour historians, he had discovered 'transnational' history decades before its current rise in the intellectual fashion stakes, meticulously researching the international dimensions to the Australian Left. A number of journal articles and book chapters also arising out of his PhD thesis explored particular themes around the Australian labour movement's relationship to international socialist and union movements. As well, he has produced a steady stream of entries for the Australian Dictionary of Biography on individuals associated with the Left in Australia.	3
In addition to his publications, Frank Farrell was also an active supporter of labour history through his membership of the Sydney Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History and of the Editorial Board of Labour History. And this, of course, was in addition to his teaching at UNSW where he inspired many students to pursue postgraduate theses on labour history topics. And like all genuine labour historians, he was an active union member, at various times serving on the executive of the UNSW branch of the National Tertiary Education Union and its predecessors. Those of us who have been his colleagues and comrades will miss his warmth and generosity and his very individual perspectives. He is survived by his wife, Hilde, and three children.	4

Content in the History Cooperative database is intended for personal, noncommercial use only. You may not reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, modify, create derivative works from, display, or in any way exploit the History Cooperative database in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.