He was born in
Springfield, Fife, Scotland. He worked as a
stonemason in London, and became a supporter of the
Chartists before emigrating to Melbourne in 1854. There, he joined with
James Stephens to revive the local branch of the Operative Masons' Association, an early
trade union. On 21 April 1856, they led a march from their construction site at the
University of Melbourne to
Parliament House, demanding the introduction of an eight-hour working day, for the same pay as previously for ten hours. Their employers in
Victoria accepted their demands, and the eight hour day became widely accepted in Australia and started to spread around the world. Galloway became ill and destitute, and died in
Collingwood, Victoria, in 1860, aged 32. He was buried at
Melbourne General Cemetery. In 1869 the unions raised funds to provide a monument at Galloway's grave, at which it was said that Galloway had initiated the eight hours movement. Stephens sought to restore his own reputation, and later the roles of Galloway and Stephens were both acknowledged by historians. ==References==