James O'Connor Kessack (19 October 1879 – 13 November 1916) 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 ...

. Born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, Kessack grew up in

Huntly Huntly ( or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlements include Keith ...

and

Inverurie Inverurie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Uraidh'' or ''Inbhir Uaraidh'', 'mouth of the River Ury') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at the confluence of the rivers Ury and River Don, Aberdeenshire, Don, about north-west of Aberdeen. Geography ...

, and worked from an early age to support his family, his father struggling to find work, and both of his parents dying while he was young. He moved to Glasgow to find employment shortly before his father's death, and his younger siblings then moved in with him.Eric Taplin, ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.VI, pp.150-152 Highly religious in his youth, Kessack became a

socialist 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 ...

after hearing

Robert Smillie Robert Smillie (17 March 1857 – 16 February 1940) was a Scottish trade unionist and Labour Party politician. He was a leader of the coal miners, and played a central role in moving support from the miners away from the Liberal Party to the L ...

speak at the

1901 North East Lanarkshire by-election The 1901 North East Lanarkshire (UK Parliament constituency), North East Lanarkshire by-election was a UK Parliamentary by-elections, Parliamentary by-election held on 26 September 1901. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (United ...

. Sam MacDonald 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) noticed Kessack's speaking ability and persuaded him to join, and Kessack later joined the Socialist Labour Party,

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

and then was a founder member of the Advocates of Industrial Unionism. He resigned from the SLP after the party forbade members from speaking at meetings of any other group, but remained prominent in the ILP, and the group sponsored his unsuccessful candidatures for the Labour Party at both the

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the year within most of the No ...

and

December 1910 general election The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last general election to be held over several days and the last to be held before the First World War. The election took place following the efforts of ...

s in Glasgow Camlachie. Kessack became the national organiser of the

National Union of Dock Labourers The National Union of Dock Labourers (NUDL) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1889 and 1922. History It was formed in Glasgow in 1889 but moved its headquarters to Liverpool within a few years and was thereafter ...

(NUDL) in 1909, replacing

James Larkin James Larkin (28 January 1874 – 30 January 1947), sometimes known as Jim Larkin or Big Jim, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. He was one of the founders of the Irish Labour Party (Ireland), Labou ...

. Although during his first couple of years, membership of the union fell in Scotland, he managed to recruit large numbers of new members in the Humber ports, and was regarded as a successful figure. However, he left his post in 1914 to join the

Scottish Horse The Scottish Horse was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army's Territorial Army raised in 1900 for service in the Second Boer War. It saw heavy fighting in both the First World War, as the 13th Battalion, Black Watch, and in the World War II, S ...

regiment of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. He was promoted to become a captain, but was killed in the

Battle of the Ancre The Battle of the Ancre was fought by the British Fifth Army (Lieutenant-General Hubert Gough), against the German 1st Army (General Fritz von Below). The Reserve Army had been renamed the Fifth Army on 30 October. The battle was the las ...

in November 1916.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessack, James O'Connor 1879 births 1916 deaths British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme Scottish trade unionists Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Industrial Workers of the World members Activists from Aberdeen Scottish Horse officers British Army personnel of World War I Socialist Labour Party (UK, 1903) members Military personnel from Aberdeen