John Wilson (1837 – 24 March 1915) was an English coal miner, trade unionist, and a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for more than 25 years.

Early life

Born at Greatham, near Hartlepool, his mother Hannah died when he was four. After his father, Christopher (b. 1807 at Greatham), died of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

when Wilson was ten, he worked in the mines, spent four years as a merchant seaman, and return to Durham as a miner in 1860. Married in 1832 to Margaret (''née'' Firth), the couple emigrated to the United States in 1864, where Wilson worked the mines in Pennsylvania and Illinois. They returned to Durham in 1867; the first two of their five children had been born in America. Wilson was one of the founders in 1869 of the

Durham Miners' Association The Durham Miners' Association (DMA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1869 and its membership quickly rose to 4,000, but within a year had fallen back to 2,000. In December 1870, William Crawford beca ...

(DMA), which led to him being denied employment, but in 1878 he became a full-time union organiser, rising to become the DMA's

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

in 1896.

Political career

The

Reform Act 1867 The Representation of the People Act 1867 ( 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102), known as the Reform Act 1867 or the Second Reform Act, is an act of the British Parliament that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the ...

had extended the vote to working-class men in urban areas, allowing the election in 1874 of

Thomas Burt Thomas Burt Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC (12 November 1837 – 12 April 1922) was a British trade unionist and one of the first working-class Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Members of Parliament. Career Burt became secretary of t ...

and

Alexander Macdonald Alexander or Alex MacDonald may refer to: Politics * Alasdair Óg of Islay (died 1299), Lord of Islay and chief of Clann Domhnaill * Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross, or Alexander MacDonald (died 1449), Scottish nobleman * Alexander MacDonald, 5th ...

as Liberal–Labour Members of Parliament (MPs). The

Representation of the People Act 1884 In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884 ( 48 & 49 Vict. c. 3), also known informally as the Third Reform Act, and the Redistribution Act of the following year were laws which ...

extended the same qualifications to the

county constituencies In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constituen ...

, enfranchising many miners for the first time. Wilson was elected at the 1885 general election as Liberal–Labour MP for the new Houghton-le-Spring constituency, but lost his seat when the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

split at the 1886 general election over

Irish Home Rule The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the end of ...

. He returned to

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 1890, at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

for the Mid Durham constituency following the death of

William Crawford William, Bill, or Billy Crawford may refer to: Entertainment * William Broderick Crawford (1911–1986), American film actor * Bill Crawford (cartoonist) (1913–1982), American editorial cartoonist * William L. Crawford (1911–1984), American p ...

, a Liberal-Labour MP who was also Secretary of the Durham Miners' Association. In

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, Wilson impressed as an effective speaker. However, he followed a different political path to many of his mining colleagues. The Liberal–Labour movement had consisted of local electoral pacts between trades unions and the Liberal Party, whereby trade union-sponsored MPs (who received no salary) were politically allied to the Liberal Party, but the movement declined after 1885. The formation in 1893 of the socialist

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 ...

was followed in 1900 by the Labour Representation Committee, which in 1906 changed its name to the Labour Party. The Labour movement no longer depended on the Liberal Party, and the alliance was formally broken when the MPs sponsored by the

Miners' Federation of Great Britain The Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) was established after a meeting of local mining trade unions in Newport, Wales, Newport, Wales in 1888. The federation was formed to represent and co-ordinate the affairs of local and regional miners' ...

joined the Labour Party before the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 UK general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. Called amid a constitutional crisis after the Conservative-dominated House of Lords rejected the People's Budget, the Liberal government, seeking a mandate, los ...

. However, some MPs, including Wilson did not join the Labour Party. A

primitive methodist The Primitive Methodist Church is a Christian denomination within the holiness movement. Originating in early 19th-century England as a revivalist movement within Methodism, it was heavily influenced by American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–18 ...

, he was a Liberal by conviction rather than by convenience, an admirer of

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

who believed in

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

when much of the rest of the Labour movement was following 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 ...

path.

Publications

References

Spartacus Educational: John Wilson
(and linked pages) *

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

: Wilson, John (1837–1915) *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, John 1837 births 1915 deaths People from Greatham, County Durham English Methodists Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal-Labour (UK) MPs Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Trade unionists from County Durham English miners