Joseph Pointer (12 June 1875 – 19 November 1914) was a patternmaker who became 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 ...

Labour Party Member of Parliament. Born in the

Attercliffe Attercliffe is an industrial suburb of northeast Sheffield, England on the south bank of the River Don. The suburb falls in the Darnall ward of Sheffield City Council. History The name Attercliffe can be traced back as far as an entry in ...

district of

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, Pointer became a convinced

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 ...

early in his life, and joined 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 ...

. He attended

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is a higher education institution and part of the University of West London, in Oxford, England. It is not a Colleges of the University of Oxford, college of Oxford University. Named ...

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for six months to study Constitutional History and

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. On his return to Sheffield, Pointer took part in a

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

, and was thereafter unable to gain regular employment. He was nonetheless elected Chair of the Sheffield Trades Council, and stood unsuccessfully for

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in 1906 and 1907. In 1908, he was finally elected for the Brightside ward. In 1909,

J. Batty Langley J. Batty Langley (20 March 1834 – 19 February 1914) was a British Liberal Party politician. He was born in Uppingham, Rutland, the son of Thomas Langley. He moved to Sheffield in the 1850s, and in 1863 commenced business on his own account a ...

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 ...

MP for

Sheffield Attercliffe Sheffield Attercliffe was a parliamentary constituency in the City of Sheffield. It was created at the 1885 general election and abolished at the 2010 general election, when it was replaced by a new Sheffield South East constituency. Bounda ...

died, and Pointer stood for the Labour Party in the ensuing by-election. With the non Labour vote divided between the Liberal candidate, and both official and unofficial Conservative Party candidates, Pointer achieved a narrow victory, becoming Sheffield's first Labour MP. He held the seat in 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, which the Liberal Party did not contest. In the

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 ...

, Pointer was appointed as a junior

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

, but died in Sheffield in 1914 aged 39.

References

The Storm of Politics
*The History of the United Pattern Makers' Association 1872-1922. W. Mosses, pp186-188.

External links

Sources for the Study of the election of Sheffield's first Labour Member of Parliament, 1909
Produced by Sheffield City Council's Libraries and Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Pointer, Joseph 1875 births 1914 deaths Independent Labour Party MPs Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Patternmakers (industrial) Trade unionists from Sheffield Politicians from Sheffield UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 United Patternmakers' Association-sponsored MPs People from Darnall