John Henry Whitley (8 February 1866 – 3 February 1935), often known as J. H. Whitley, was a British politician and

Georgist Georgism, also called in modern times Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that, although people should own the value they produce themselves, the economic rent derived from Land (economics), ...

. He was the final Liberal to serve as Speaker of the House of Commons, a role he held from 1921 to 1928.

Family and early career

Whitley was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, on 8 February 1866 son of Nathan Whitley (1830–1889) from Ovenden. Nathan went on to serve as Mayor of Halifax (1876–1877), succeeding his cousin-in-law

Edward Crossley Edward Crossley (1841 – 21 January 1905) was an English businessman, Liberal Party politician and astronomer. Biography Edward Crossley was the eldest son of Joseph Crossley J.P., of Broomfield, Halifax, Yorkshire, of the Crossley carpets dyn ...

, the son of Joseph Crossley (1813-1868), a partner in John Crossley & Sons carpet factory, Halifax. After an early education boarding at Wiseman's House,

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

, Whitley entered his uncle Samuel Whitley's cotton spinning business, S. Whitley & Co. at Hanson Lane Mills, Skircoat, Halifax. Nathan was a partner in the business and took over after Samuel's death in 1884. In 1892, Whitley married Margherita (Margaret) Virginia Marchetti. Margherita was born in

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

in 1872, a daughter of an Italian, Giulio (Julian) Marchetti, who had served as an officer under

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pat ...

before settling in England to marry Anne Crossley in Halifax in 1871 and take his place in the carpet manufacturing business. They had two daughters and two sons: Margaret Phyllis b.1895; Percival Nathan b.1893; Monica Virginia b.1903; and

Oliver John Oliver Peter Martin John (born February 9, 1959) is a German personality psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is ...

b.1912. Margherita died in 1925 and John Henry remarried in 1928 to Helen Clarke in Chelsea.

Political career

Pre-war

Whitley became Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Halifax in 1900, a seat he held until he resigned in 1928. He served as Junior Lord of the Treasury from 1907 to 1910 in the

Liberal Government 1905-1915 Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment an ...

. He was appointed Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means 1910–1911, Privy Counsellor in 1911 and he held the role of Chairman of Ways and Means, Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, from 1911 to 1921.

Whitley Councils

During World War I, in 1917, Whitley was appointed to chair a committee to report on 'the Relations of Employers and Employees' in the wake of the establishment of the Shop Stewards Movement and the widespread protest action against

dilution Dilution may refer to: * Reducing the concentration of a chemical * Serial dilution, a common way of going about this reduction of concentration * Homeopathic dilution * Dilution (equation), an equation to calculate the rate a gas dilutes * Trad ...

. The smooth running of industry was vital to the war effort so maintaining good industrial relations was a priority. He proposed a system of regular formal consultative meetings between workers and employers, known to this day as "Whitley Councils". These would be empowered to cover any issue related to pay and conditions of service, and to take matters through to arbitration if necessary. This was a strong model which was to influence industrial relations beyond the UK. The intention was to establish Whitley councils in the private sector, in particular in those industries most affected by the strike wave – to offset the demand for '

workers' control Workers' control is participation in the management of factories and other commercial enterprises by the people who work there. It has been variously advocated by anarchists, socialists, communists, social democrats, distributists and Christ ...

' – a demand which was rapidly gaining ground after the

Russian revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

. However, the councils failed to gain ground in coal, cotton, engineering and other heavy industries, but succeeded only in the sphere of government employment where they remain a major feature of

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, inf ...

industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, ...

to this day.

Speaker

Whitley was appointed

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of 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 ...

in 1921, a post he held until 1928, when he resigned on grounds of ill health. He refused the customary peerage offered by the monarch – breaking a tradition that had originated in 1789. Some notable portraits of Whitley were commissioned during this period, with paintings by both

William Rothenstein Sir William Rothenstein (29 January 1872 – 14 February 1945) was an English painter, printmaker, draughtsman, lecturer, and writer on art. Emerging during the early 1890s, Rothenstein continued to make art right up until his death. Though he c ...

and Glyn Warren Philpot.

Post-Parliament

Despite resigning as MP and Speaker, his political work continued. He chaired the '' Royal Commission on Labour in India'', which reported in 1931. The report surprised many by concurring with the criticisms of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and others that poverty was the cause of India's social and industrial problems. It was also critical of British employers' role in perpetuating the problems. Whitley was offered a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

for his work on this report, but again, he, like a minority of others, declined.

BBC

His friendship with John Reith led to his appointment as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC in 1930. In 1932, he made the first broadcast on the Empire Service, which developed into the World Service. He held the Chairmanship until his death.

Death and burial

Whitley died on 3 February 1935, aged 68, shortly before his 69th birthday. He is buried in Plot 456, Lister Lane Cemetery, Halifax.

Works

* *

The John Henry Whitley archive

The personal archive of John Henry Whitley was donated to the Archives and Special Collections of the

University of Huddersfield , mottoeng = Thus not for you alone , established = 1825 – Huddersfield Science and Mechanics' Institute1992 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £2.47 million (2015) , chancellor = George W. Buckley , vice_chancell ...

in 2012.

Honours

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

was to Whitley erected by the

Halifax Civic Trust Halifax commonly refers to: *Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada *Halifax, West Yorkshire, England *Halifax (bank), a British bank Halifax may also refer to: Places Australia * Halifax, Queensland, a coastal town in the Shire of Hinchinbrook *Halifax ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitley, John Henry 1866 births 1935 deaths Chairmen of the BBC People from Halifax, West Yorkshire People educated at Clifton College Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Speakers of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom BBC Governors UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 Georgist politicians