George Howell (5 October 1833 – 17 September 1910) was an English

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

ist and reform campaigner and a

Lib-Lab The Liberal–Labour movement refers to the practice of local Liberal associations accepting and supporting candidates who were financially maintained by trade unions. These candidates stood for the British Parliament with the aim of representing ...

politician, who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from 1885 to 1895.

Biography

George Howell was born in

Wrington Wrington is a village and a civil and ecclesiastical parish on the north slopes of the Mendip Hills in North Somerset, England. Both include nearby Redhill. Wrington lies in the valley of the Congresbury Yeo river, about east of Weston-su ...

, Somerset, the eldest of eight children of a builder and contractor. He was educated at a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

primary school in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

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 a bricklayer, but dedicated Sundays to reading. Among his favourite books were John Foxe's '' Book of Martyrs'' and John Bunyan's ''

The Pilgrim's Progress ''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a progenitor of t ...

''. Howell grew to dislike his work as a builder so became an apprentice shoemaker. Some of the men he worked with were active

chartists Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, ...

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 were Methodists, and Howell attended some of their meetings at Wrington Chapel, before becoming a

lay preacher Lay preacher is a preacher or a religious proclaimer who is not a formally ordained cleric and who does not hold a formal university degree in theology. Lay preaching varies in importance between religions and their sects. Although lay preache ...

. He also became involved in the local

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

. 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, including

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

George Holyoake George Jacob Holyoake (13 April 1817 – 22 January 1906) was an English secularist, co-operator and newspaper editor. He coined the terms secularism in 1851 and "jingoism" in 1878. He edited a secularist paper, the ''Reasoner'', from 1846 to J ...

Charles Bradlaugh Charles Bradlaugh (; 26 September 1833 – 30 January 1891) was an English political activist and atheist. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866, 15 years after George Holyoake had coined the term "secularism" in 1851. In 1880, Bradl ...

and Frederic Harrison. He joined the

Operative Bricklayers' Society The Operative Bricklayers' Society (OBS) was a British New Model Trade Union based in London. History The society was founded in 1818 as the London Bricklayers' Society, but by 1829 had developed into a national operative union. By the 1840s ...

(a New Model Trade Union) in 1859, and played a part in leading the London builders' strike in support of a nine-hour working day. Through his work with the union he became one of the foremost New Model unionists, along with

Robert Applegarth Robert Applegarth (26 January 1834 – 13 July 1924) was a prominent British trade unionist and proponent of working class causes. Biography Robert Applegarth was born in Hull in England. His father was the captain of a whaling brig. He spent a b ...

and George 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 The London Trades Council was an early labour organisation, uniting London's trade unionists. Its modern successor organisation is the Greater London Association of Trades (Union) Councils History Leading figures in the London trade union mov ...

(LTC) in 1861 and became its secretary. He also became involved in the campaign for

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...

, becoming full-time secretary of the

Reform League The Reform League was established in 1865 to press for manhood suffrage and the ballot in Great Britain. It collaborated with the more moderate and middle class Reform Union and gave strong support to the abortive Reform Bill 1866 and the succe ...

in 1865. Howell organised demonstrations in London in 1866 and 1867, and played an important role in the campaign behind the 1867 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 The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

(TUC), and regularly contributed to the trade unionist journal ''

The Bee-Hive ''The Bee-Hive'' was a trade unionist journal published weekly in the United Kingdom between 1861 and 1878. ''The Bee-Hive'' was established in 1861 by George Potter, with professional journalist George Troup as editor and Robert Hartwell as the ...

'' as well as publishing a number of books throughout the 1870s. Howell stood for parliament unsuccessfully at

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

in the general elections of 1868 and

1874 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War &ndash ...

and at

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in th ...

in a by-election in 1881. He finally succeeded in

1885 Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 &n ...

as Lib–Lab candidate for Bethnal Green North East, London. In

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, Howell helped to pass the

Merchant Shipping Act 1894 A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...

and successfully defended his seat in

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

and 1892 but was defeated by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Mancherjee Bhownagree in

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

. 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. On 17 September 1910, he died at 35 Findon Road,

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character ...

, and was buried at

Nunhead Cemetery Nunhead Cemetery is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries in London, England. It is perhaps the least famous and celebrated of them. The cemetery is located in Nunhead in the London Borough of Southwark and was originally known as All Saints ...

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'' 1902

References

External links

* *
SpartacusGeorge Howell's archive and library at Bishopsgate Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, George General Secretaries of the Trades Union Congress Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 Liberal-Labour (UK) MPs British bricklayers English trade unionists Chartists 1833 births 1910 deaths People from Wrington Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress 19th-century British businesspeople

Biography

Notable works

References

Further reading

External links