David Baxter Lawley (1888 – 1964) 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 unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and political activist, best known as an activist for the rights of blind people. Born in Askham-in-Furness, Lawley received an elementary education before becoming a miner. Keen to further himself, he studied mining at evening classes and worked at a wide variety of mines in the UK and also in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He also became an advocate of

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and an active trade unionist. In 1912, Lawley moved to

Hedley, British Columbia Hedley is an unincorporated community near the mouth of Hedley Creek in the Similkameen Country, Similkameen region of southern British Columbia, Canada. The former mining town, on British Columbia provincial highway 3, BC Highway 3, is by road ...

, where he again worked as a miner. In December 1913, he was blinded by a

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explosion, and subsequently returned to the UK. Becoming an advocate of the rights of blind people, he joined the National League of the Blind (NLB), and soon became the full-time North West District Organiser for the union. From 1920 to 1922, he served as the union's general president. Lawley was also active in the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

, serving on the executive of his local branch and speaking on its behalf. At the

1922 United Kingdom general election The 1922 United Kingdom general election was held on Wednesday 15 November 1922. It was won by the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law, which gained an overall majority over the Labour Party, led by J. R. Clynes, and ...

, the NLB sponsored him as a Labour Party candidate in

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. He took fourth place, with only 12.2% of the vote, and was not elected, and dropped to fifth place and 11.6% when he stood again in

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

. He stood instead in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

at the

1924 United Kingdom general election The 1924 United Kingdom general election was held on Wednesday 29 October 1924, as a result of the defeat of the Labour minority government, led by Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, in the House of Commons on a motion of no confidence. It was th ...

, managing only 6.8% of the votes cast. By 1932, Lawley had moved to

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, where he began working for the CNIB. He was very active in organising local districts and representing them at the provincial level, and in 1936 the post of Ontario Field Service Department supervisor was created for him. He became the organisation's national field service consultant in 1946, and in 1947 and 1948 worked on secondment to the Trinidad and Tobago Blind Welfare Association. Returning to Canada, he became acting superintendent of the CNIB's Ontario division, retiring in 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawley, David Baxter 1888 births 1964 deaths Blind activists British activists with disabilities English blind people British emigrants to Canada English trade unionists Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Askam and Ireleth Presidents of British trade unions