- George Howell
George Howell (
5 October 1833 -16 September 1911 ) was a prominent Britishtrade union ist and reform campaigner in the 19th century.Biography
George Howell was born in
Wrington ,Somerset , the eldest of eight children. He was educated at aChurch of England primary school inBristol until the age of twelve, when he began work with his father, who owned a small builders. By the week he worked twelve hours a day as a mortar-boy, and later abricklayer , but dedicated Sundays to reading. Among his favourite books were John Foxe's "Book of Martyrs " and John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress ".Howell grew to dislike his work as a builder so became an
apprentice shoemaker. Some of the men he worked with were activechartists and introduced him to radical newspapers including the "Northern Star" and the "Red Republican". As a result, he joined the chartist movement in 1848. Others of his colleagues wereMethodists , and Howell attended some of their meetings at Wrington Chapel, before becoming alay preacher . He also became involved in the localtemperance movement .Howell moved to
London in 1854 where he resumed work as a bricklayer, unable to find employment as a shoemaker. He attended many radical political meetings and met prominent radical thinkers of the day, includingKarl Marx ,George Holyoake ,Charles Bradlaugh andFrederic Harrison . He joined theOperative Bricklayers' Society (aNew Model Trade Union )in 1859, and played a part in leadingstrike action in support of a nine hour working day. Through his work with the union he became one of the foremost New Model unionists, along withRobert Applegarth andGeorge Potter , but was blacklisted by employers for five years.He was elected, along with Potter and Applegarth, to the executive of the
London Trades Council (LTC) in 1861 and became its secretary. He also became involved in the campaign foruniversal suffrage , becoming full-time secretary of theReform League in 1865. Howell organised demonstrations in London in 1866 and 1867, and played an important role in the campaign behind the1867 Reform Act . However, Howell was not satisfied with the scale of the reform and continued to campaign for universal suffrage.In 1871 Howell was appointed secretary of the
Trades Union Congress (TUC), and regularly contributed to the trade unionist journal the Bee-Hive as well as publishing a number of books throughout the 1870s.Howell attempted to be elected as a
Member of Parliament in the general elections of 1868, 1874 and 1880. He finally succeeded in 1885 asLib-Lab candidate for Bethnal Green North East, London. In Parliament, Howell helped to pass theMerchant Shipping Act 1894 and successfully defended his seat in 1886 and 1892 but was defeated by the ConservativeMancherjee Bhownagree in 1895.In poor health, Howell retired from public life. His old friend Robert Applegarth and the TUC raised a £1650 testimonial to buy him an annuity before his death in 1911
Notable works
* "A Handy Book of Labour Laws" 1876
* "Conflicts of Capital and Labour" 1878
* "Trade Unionism New and Old" 1891
* "Labour Legislation, Labour Movements and Labour Leaders" 1902References
* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUhowell.htm Spartacus]
* [http://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=1007 George Howell's archive and library at Bishopsgate Library]
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