Herbert Edward Witard (8 October 1873 – April 1954) was a British socialist politician. Born in

Clare, Suffolk Clare is a market town and civil parish on the north bank of the River River Stour, Suffolk, Stour in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. Clare is in southwest Suffolk, from Bury St Edmunds and ...

,''The Labour Who's Who: 1924'', p.190 Witard grew up in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

. When he was six, his father died, and the family fell into poverty. He began working at the age of ten, selling newspapers on a street corner after early-morning schooling. He left school two years later and worked as a cabin boy on a fishing boat operating out of

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

.Kindra Jones, ''Norwich in 100 Dates'' At the age of fourteen, he returned to Norwich and learnt shoemaking,Maggie Peploe, "", Norwich Heart gradually building himself a reputation as one of the best in the city. He decided, at some point, to walk to London with two friends, and worked there for a short while, but soon returned to Norwich. In 1894, Witard was a founder of the Norwich branch of 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 ...

(ILP). He soon became prominent in the party, and in 1897 spent time in London as secretary of

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

's campaign committee for the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

elections. He was elected to

Norwich City Council Norwich City Council is the local authority for Norwich, a non-metropolitan district with city status in Norfolk, England. It consists of 39 councillors, elected to represent 13 wards, each with three councillors. It forms the lower tier of l ...

in 1903, the first ILP councillor in the city, and was soon joined by colleagues. He stood down in 1907 to take a post as the full-time organiser of

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

ILP, then in 1908 became the organiser of the party's Eastern Region, also serving on the party's

National Administrative Council The National Administrative Council (NAC) was the executive council of the Independent Labour Party (ILP), a British socialist party which was active from 1893 until 1975. Creation The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was founded at a conference in ...

. Witard became president of Norwich ILP in 1910, and was soon back on the council. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party, and Witard stood unsuccessfully for it in

at the 1918 and

1922 UK 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 ...

s. He was elected as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

in 1922, and in 1927 as

Lord Mayor of Norwich This is a list of mayors and the later lord mayors of the city of Norwich. Norwich had elected a mayor since 1403 when a Charter of Henry IV allowed the Freemen of the city to elect Councillors, Aldermen, Sheriffs and a Mayor serving for one ye ...

. Previous Lord Mayors had been wealthy and were expected to pay for entertainment from their own funds, but as Witard could not afford this, for the first time, an allowance was given for mayoral entertainment. In 1936, Witard claimed to have seen a

sea serpent A sea serpent is a type of sea monster described in various mythologies, most notably in Mesopotamian cosmology (Tiamat), Ugaritic cosmology ( Yam, Tannin), biblical cosmology (Leviathan, Rahab), Greek cosmology (Cetus, Echidna, Hydra, Scy ...

while walking on the beach at Eccles, Norfolk, with

Charles Ammon Charles George Ammon, 1st Baron Ammon, PC, DL, JP (22 April 1873 – 2 April 1960) was a British Labour Party politician. Background and education The son of Charles George and Mary Ammon, he was educated at public elementary schools. He was ...

and Archibald Gossling. He remained on the council until 1951, when he stood down. He died three years later.Patrick Palgrave-Moore, ''The Mayors and Lord Mayors of Norwich, 1936–1974'', p.59

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witard, Herbert 1873 births 1954 deaths Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members Labour Party (UK) councillors Mayors of Norwich Politicians from Norwich People from Clare, Suffolk