George Tomlinson (21 March 1890 – 22 September 1952) was a British Labour Party politician.

Biography

George Tomlinson was born at 55 Fielding Street in

Rishton Rishton is a town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England, about west of Clayton-le-Moors and north east of Blackburn. It was an urban district from about 1894 to 1974. The population at the census of 2011 was 6,625. History Its ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, the son of John Tomlinson, a cotton weaver, and his wife Alice, née Varley. He was educated in Rishton at Wesleyan Elementary School. At the age of 12 he took work as weaver at a cotton mill, working half-time the first year before becoming a full-timer. In 1912 he was elected president of the Rishton district of the Amalgamated Weavers' Association. Tomlinson married the cotton weaver Ethel Pursell on 4 September 1914 and together they had a daughter. He was a conscientious objector in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, working on the land for three years. He was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for the

Farnworth Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southeast of Bolton, 4.3 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and northwest of Manchester. Historically in Lancashire, Farnworth lies on the River Ir ...

constituency in

at a by-election in 1938 and held the seat until his death in 1952, aged 62. He was joint Parliamentary Secretary under

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union in the years 1922–194 ...

in the

Ministry of Labour and National Service Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

from February 1941 to May 1945 in

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

's wartime Coalition Government. In Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government he was Minister of Works, August 1945 – February 1947, and Minister of Education, February 1947 – October 1951, following the death of

Ellen Wilkinson Ellen Cicely Wilkinson (8 October 1891 – 6 February 1947) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Minister of Education from July 1945 until her death. Earlier in her career, as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Jarrow, s ...

. In 1944 Tomlinson was a British delegate at the International Labour Conference held at Philadelphia in the United States. A biography of Tomlinson written by

Fred Blackburn Fred Blackburn (29 July 1902 – 1 May 1990) was a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stalybridge and Hyde from the 1951 general election until 1970. Early life Blackburn was educated at Queen Elizabe ...

, a fellow Labour politician and Member of Parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde, was published by

Heinemann Heinemann may refer to: * Heinemann (surname) * Heinemann (publisher), a publishing company * Heinemann Park, a.k.a. Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States See also * Heineman * Jamie Hyneman James Franklin Hyneman (born Se ...

in 1954. The biography, which features a foreword by Clement Attlee, is largely based on talks Blackburn had with Tomlinson before his death. The George Tomlinson School, which opened in

Kearsley Kearsley ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 14,212. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies northwest of Manchester, southwest of Bury and south of ...

the year following his death, was named in his memory. The school converted to academy status in 2010 and was renamed

Kearsley Academy Kearsley Academy (formerly George Tomlinson School) is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status sponsored by Northern Education Trust. It is located in Kearsley in the English county of Greater Manchester. Previously ...

References

;Bibliography *

External links

* * 1890 births 1952 deaths British Secretaries of State for Education British conscientious objectors Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951 Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 People from Rishton UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 United Textile Factory Workers' Association-sponsored MPs {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub

Biography

References

Further reading

External links