| Description | DOB: April 1840
DOD: 11 October 1911
Father a journeyman stonemason.
Attended private school to age 12.
Lived in Littlemore then "tramped", lived in Norwich 6 years, London 1865 onwards.
Married 1859.
1852 employed in blacksmith's shop; 1853 - 1857 apprentice stonemason; journeyman stonemason until 1872, when began political career as trade union activist. Later MP for Stoke 1880 - 1885, MP for Leicester 1894 - 1906. Member of the Working Men's Association and the Reform League; delegate of Stonemason's Society to TUC; member of Parliamentary Committee of TUC; secretary to the Labour Representation League 1873; parliamentary secretary of TUC 1875 - 1890; Under-Secretary of State 1886; member of Cromer School Board 1896; worked on various Parliamentary Commissions and was involved in a co-operative experiment.
Detailed account of poor but happy childhood; work traditions; relations in a stonemason's shop; general comment on the condition of the working class in the second half of the 19th century, with special reference to trade union struggles and a description of the Hyde Park Demonstration 1866. A major part of the narrative is taken up with an account of his work for the Labour Representation League and as a Member of Parliament. A valuable source for late19th C Labour history. With intro by Augustine Birrell, K.C.
Autobiography typewritten; 19pp.
Family. Employment. Politics. |