Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a hard worker, one who perseveres.

1894		Mirror of Life 20 Jan. 7/2: ‘We are all “grafters,” and should look after our own “game”’.
1895		Truth (Sydney) 7 Apr. 1/7: His protest against the sweating of the grafters in the legislative vineyard.
1900		H. Lawson On Track 41: ‘What are we to do now?’ enquired Andy, who was the hardest grafter, but altogether helpless, hopeless, and useless in a crisis like this.
1910		‘O. Henry’ ‘The Girl and the Graft’ in Strictly Business (1915) 90: Pogue is a conscientious grafter of the highest type.
1916		C.J. Dennis ‘The Push’ in Moods of Ginger Mick 41: There is grafters, an’ there’s blokes ‘oo never done a ’ard day’s work / Till they tumbled, wiv the rest, into the game.
1925		Dos Passos Manhattan Transfer 284: ‘Joey’s a good guy.’ [...] ‘Some little grafter I’ll say.’.
1938		G. Kersh Night and the City 79: Young Vi’s the best little grafter in the place.
1943		Baker ‘Influence of American Sl. on Australia’ in AS XVIII:4 255: A grafter is a hard worker.
1958		D. Stivens Scholarly Mouse and other Tales 66: He was a real grafter and he dug holes about three times as fast as we did, though we weren’t the ones to lie down on the job.
1964		F. Sargeson ‘A Man of Good Will’ in Coll. Stories (1965) 134: The Williams were grafters [...] They never seemed to have any time for recreation.
1966		J. Holledge Great Aust. Gamble 138: ‘Grafter’ was his name and grafting was his game.
1986		F. Taylor Auf Wiedersehen Pet Two 18: It’s the bloody Ally Frasers of this world that people respect. Not grafters like you and me.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 155: A Rich Boy’s cock-up, at that. No grafter would deliberately suppress the market.
2011		J.J. Connolly Viva La Madness 37: These Bajans are church people [...] They’re grafters in the old-fashiopned sense.
2012		W. Keyser ‘Carny Lingo’ in http://goodmagic.com 🌐 Grafters — Pitchmen.