John Hales

International Workingmen's Association (First International) 1839–?

General Secretary of the International who split the British Federal Council from Marx in 1872

Born in Ireland, he led the small Elastic Web Weavers of London union and championed the right of women to join it. Joining the General Council of the International in 1866, he affiliated his union to it, and the Land and Labour League took its name from his proposal. He became General Secretary of the International in 1871 and from early 1872 also its Corresponding Secretary for the United States, losing both posts that summer when the headquarters moved to New York. In November, with the support of Eccarius, Jung and Mottershead, he led the British Federation away from the American leadership and from Marx. At the Universal Socialist Congress in Ghent in 1877 he argued for putting parliamentary action first, and in 1880 he became secretary of the Labour Representation League. His life after 1882 is unknown.