John Martin Bonfield (1 May 1915 – 9 January 1976) 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 ...

. Bonfield grew up in

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

before becoming a printer. 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 ...

, becoming its National Assistant Secretary in 1948, then General President in 1955 and General Secretary in 1957. That year, he was also elected to the executive of the

International Graphical Federation The International Graphical Federation (IGF) was a global union federation bringing together unions of printing workers around the world. History Moved to establish the federation began in 1939, when the Lithographers' International, Internati ...

, becoming president in 1967. In 1961, he was also elected as President of the

Printing and Kindred Trades Federation The Printing and Kindred Trades Federation (P&KTF) was a trade union federation in the United Kingdom. History The federation was established at a conference in Manchester on 8 September 1890, organised on the initiative of George D. Kelley. The ...

.Bonfield, John Martin
, ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'' Under Bonfield's leadership, the Typographical Association merged with the London Typographical Society to form the

National Graphical Association The National Graphical Association (NGA) was a trade union representing typographers and related workers in the United Kingdom. History The union was formed in 1964 by the merger of two long-term rival unions, the Typographical Association an ...

. Bonfield became joint general secretary, with Robert Willis, working alone from 1965 to 1967 while Willis took a leave of absence, and serving permanently alone from 1969, when Willis retired. Bonfield retired from most of his trade union posts in 1974, although he remained general secretary of the NGA, and also on the

Eastern Electricity Board Eastern Electricity plc was an electricity supply and distribution utility serving Eastern England, including East Anglia and part of Greater London. It was renamed ''Eastern Group'' under which name it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and ...

, a part-time post he had held since 1968. He died on the 9th January 1976 in Brickhill near Milton Keynes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonfield, John 1915 births 1976 deaths General secretaries of the National Graphical Association People from Hitchin