Frederick Maddison JP (17 August 1856 – 12 March 1937) was a British

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 ...

leader and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

politician.

Background

Born in

Boston, Lincolnshire Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It lies to the south-east of Lincoln, east of Nottingham and north-east of Peterborough. The town had a population of 45,339 at ...

, Maddison studied at Adelaide Street Wesleyan School,

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

.(1 December 2007). Maddison, Fred, (1856–12 March 1937). ''Who's Who & Who Was Who''. Ed. Retrieved 19 April 2019, from http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-213450.

Career

He joined the

Typographical Association The Typographical Association (TA) was a trade union representing typographers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. History The National Typographical Association collapsed in 1848, and delegates from across Yorkshire and Lancashire met at Ange ...

and soon rose in prominence, becoming

President of the Trades Union Congress The president of the Trades Union Congress is a prominent but largely honorary position in United Kingdom, British trade unionism. History Initially, the post of president was elected at the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) itself, and would serv ...

in 1886. In 1887, he became the first working class member of Hull Corporation. He took a post in the Labour Department of the Board of Trade,Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, ''Who's Who of British MPs: Volume II, 1886–1918'' and became a labour journalist. Maddison stood as a Lib–Lab candidate for Parliament on several occasions, first in Kingston upon Hull Central at the

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

and 1895 general elections. He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Sheffield Brightside Sheffield, Brightside was a Borough constituency, parliamentary constituency in the Sheffield, City of Sheffield. Created for the 1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 general election, and replaced at the 2010 United Kingdom general elect ...

at a by-election in 1897, becoming Sheffield's first working class Member of Parliament, but narrowly lost the seat at the 1900 election. A major factor in his defeat was his support for the

Boer Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...

s during the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

. Maddison was not a man of independent financial means and was seeking to represent working class constituencies which were not in a position to bank roll a candidate at election time. From 1897 onwards, he was reliant upon the Liberal Party Chief to arrange for the payment of his election expenses.''A Liberal Chronicle'', JA Pease 1908-1910. In

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

, Maddison was elected for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. ''Dod's Parliamentary Companion'' in 1907 described him as a Radical, in favour of Old Age Pensions, Taxation of Land Values and Reform of the House of Lords.''Dod's Parliamentary Companion'', 1907 In June 1908 the Lib-Lab trade union group of MPs debated their relationship with the Labour Party at future elections. It was proposed that sitting members of both groups should be given support, along with any candidates endorsed by the TUC Parliamentary Committee. Maddison was a vocal part of the minority who opposed this relationship. He argued that group members should be free to support any Liberal candidates who faced Labour Party opposition, pointing out on class grounds that the proposal, in this instance, would force the group to back a middle-class candidate endorsed by the Labour Party over a working-class candidate endorsed by his Liberal Association. Even though he was returned at Burnley in 1906, Maddison was on the look out to switch constituencies for the 1910 election. Liberal Chief Whip Jack Pease was keen to find a Liberal to run against the Labour Party's Ramsay MacDonald at Leicester and Maddison's candidacy was approved by Prime Minister Asquith. However, Maddison chose to defend his seat at Burnley. He lost this seat in January 1910. He never returned to Parliament, despite standing at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

in December 1910,

Holderness Holderness is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the north-east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common wit ...

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

South Dorset South Dorset is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since 2024 by Lloyd Hatton, of th ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

and finally

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

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 was President of the Labour Association for Promoting Co-operative Production. As a committed pacifist, he was Secretary of the

International Arbitration League The International Arbitration League was a society of pacifists run by working-class men. It was initially founded out of the British Workmen's Peace Committee, by the Nobel Peace Prize winner Sir William Randal Cremer and fellows from the recently ...

. He was a Justice of the peace for the County of London.

References

External links

*Maddison at the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography * http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-47375 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maddison, Frederick 1856 births 1937 deaths Trade unionists from Lincolnshire Liberal-Labour (UK) MPs People from Boston, Lincolnshire Politics of Sheffield UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1906–1910 Politics of Burnley Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Lancashire Presidents of the Trades Union Congress Typographical Association-sponsored MPs