Junta leader of New Model Unionism who ran the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners
Born in Hull in 1834, the son of a whaling captain, he went to work at ten and learned carpentry. After a spell in the United States from 1854 he returned to Sheffield, became secretary of the carpenters' union there and in 1862 was elected General Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners. One of the New Model Unionists the Webbs called the Junta, he sat on the executive of the London Trades Council and urged negotiation over strikes; under his leadership the society grew from 1,000 members in 1862 to over 10,000 in 1870. His evidence to the Royal Commission on Trade Unions of 1867 helped lead to the Trade Union Act of 1871, and at the International's Basel Congress of 1869 he advocated land nationalisation. He resigned as General Secretary in 1871, went into business, and in 1917 declined the Companion of Honour offered by Lloyd George. He died in 1924.
Activities and affiliations
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1862–1871
Trade unionsMain
Social movements and organizing -
1869–
International Workingmen's Association (First International)
Social movements and organizing
Career Timeline
- 1862–1871General Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners
- 1867Witness before the Royal Commission on Trade Unions
- 1869Advocated land nationalisation at the International's Basel Congress