Born:

George Moody was born in 1887 in West Hartlepool, Durham, Englanf the son of Robort Moody and Engineer and his wife Ann nee Robinson.

George started his working life in England as an apprentice Blacksmith but was still to young when he completed his time so started an apprenticeship as a boilermaker.

Before emigrating to Australia he was working as a coachsmith on the docks of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England.  He came to Queensland with 900 other British immigrants to work on the railways. He left England on the SS "Kaikuoura" on 9th August 1911.

George with his two friends Ned McGarr and George Thomson were sent to Bakers Creek to help construct the Mackay to St. Lawrence railway link. However the primitive camp conditions soon took their toll and the men came to work in Mackay.  George Moody secured a job as blacksmith and striker with Alex Conley a coachbuilder.

George soon met and fell in love with Eleanor Williams known as "Leila" and they were married in the Holy Trinity Church on 13 January 1913. They rented a house in Wellington street three doors from the Lutheran Church where their first child, a son, George Henry Robert (Harry) was born.

George then gained employment with Cameron's Foundry in Peel Street. He lived in Albert Street (now known as Gordon Street) before moving to North Mackay on the corner of Malcolmson and Harvey streets. The family later moved to a house in Macalister street.

George was one of the early members in the foundation of the local branch of the Australian Labor Party in 1922.

The family soon after after into "Reading Villa" the home of Leila's father John Henry Williams Snr. 

In 1924 George  stood for election to the Mackay City Council for the first time. He ended up serving as an alderman for 25 years. 

George soon started his own business in the backyard of the family home "Blacksmith and Engineering."  His business made splints for the hospitals, springs and angle irons etc for local garages.

George served for three terms as Mayor of Mackay 1934-1936, 1936-1939 and 1939-1942 during the hard times of the Depression years and onset of the Second World War.

During the war years George was in charge of the building of landing barges at the Harbour. Leila  worked for the C.W.A. and Red cross and helped serve refreshments to the troops passing through Mackay on the troop trains.

He had the distinction of being the first chairman of the Mackay Hospital Board and served as a government representative on the board until his death.

From 1943 to 1946 George served on the MAckay Harbour Board and was still a City Council alderman at the time of his death.

He died on 21st December 1950 at the age of 63 following a hernia operation. He was buried at the Mackay Cemetery on 23rd December 1950.

Sources:

Queensland Federation Index 1890-1914.

Souvenir of Mackay and District, c.1937, p.9

The Daily Mercury, Friday, December 22, 1950.

Williams, Lesley (1987), If the Leichardt Tree Could Talk, Tamborine North QLD