Fred Beerworth

Frederick Hubert Beerworth (17 May 1886 – 17 May 1968) was an Australian trade unionist and politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for South Australia from 1946 to 1951. He was a railwayman prior to entering politics and served as state president of the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen from 1940 to 1941.

Early life Beerworth was born on 17 May 1886 in Quorn, South Australia. He was one of eleven children born to Mary (née McInerney) and William Carl Beerworth, a German immigrant whose surname was originally "Bierwirth". His older brother James Beerworth was a member of the South Australian parliament in the 1930s and 1940s.

Beerworth attended state schools in Pametta and Carrieton. After leaving school he worked as a farm labourer for a period.

Beerworth joined the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen in 1921. He was elected to its state executive in 1937 and served as vice-president in 1939 and president from 1940 to 1941.

Politics Beerworth joined the Australian Labor Party at a young age and served as secretary of its Hilton and Cowandilla branches. He was later elected to the West Torrens Council in 1944. As the lead ALP candidate in South Australia, he took his seat immediately to fill the casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Oliver Uppill, which had been filled by Ted Mattner in the interim. His term in the Senate was cut short by a double dissolution on 19 March 1951 prior to the 1951 federal election.

Personal life In 1917, Beerworth married Ellen Bourke. He was widowed in 1920 and remarried in 1925 to Nora Kenny, with whom he had one son. He died on 17 May 1968, his 82nd birthday.