Herbert Lisle (19 October 1907 – 3 September 1991) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

trade union leader. Born in

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

, Lisle attended Clarkesfield Council School, and then Waterloo Higher Standard Centre. He left when he was fourteen, and began an apprenticeship as a watchmaker, but left after six months and began working in a cotton mill, training as a weaver. He attended evening classes to try to move into management, but was unable to find a position. Lisle joined the Oldham Weavers' Association, and served as a collector for the union. In 1934, he became a full-time organiser for the union, then in 1937 the union's Middleton District Officer. He was also elected to Middleton Town Council, representing the Labour Party. In 1946, he was one of 40 applicants to become general secretary of the

Amalgamated Society of Textile Workers and Kindred Trades The Amalgamated Society of Textile Workers and Kindred Trades (ASTWKT) was a trade union representing textile workers, principally silk manufacturing, in the United Kingdom. Leek Textile Federation By 1907, Leek had eight small trade unions rep ...

(ASTWKT), a union based in

Leek, Staffordshire Leek is a market town and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet north east of Stoke-on-Trent. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1214. It is the administrative centre for the Staffordshire ...

, which primarily represented silk workers. He won the post, and in 1948 also became secretary of the trade union side of the

Joint Industrial Council A joint industrial council (JIC) or national joint industrial council (NJIC), known as a Whitley council in some fields, especially white-collar and government, is a statutory council of employers and trade unions established in the United Kingdom ...

(JIC) for silk, and the narrow fabrics JIC. In 1949, he was elected to Leek Trades Council, serving until 1958. In January 1951, Lisle convinced the union to affiliate to the

Amalgamated Weavers' Association The Amalgamated Weavers' Association, often known as the Weavers' Amalgamation, was a trade union in the United Kingdom. Initially, it operated in competition with the North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association in part of its area, ...

, and he was elected to its central committee. This affiliation was not successful, and the union withdrew in 1955. In 1965, Lisle negotiated for the National Silk Weavers' and Textile Traders' Association to merge into the union, taking its membership over 7,000, and, meaning that for the first time it had members outside Cheshire and Staffordshire. In 1964, he was elected to

Staffordshire County Council Staffordshire County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Staffordshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includ ...

, serving until 1967. In the 1972 Birthday Honours, Lisle was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. He retired in 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lisle, Bert 1907 births 1991 deaths Councillors in Greater Manchester Councillors in Staffordshire General secretaries of British trade unions Labour Party (UK) councillors Trade unionists from Oldham Officers of the Order of the British Empire