James E. Matthew Vincent 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 ...

newspaper editor and trade union official. Born in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, Vincent was educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

, and then undertook an apprenticeship with the ''Sherborne Journal''. In 1857, he married Anna Maria Witty, the daughter of the inventor Richard Whitty, and relocated to

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, where he became the owner and editor of the ''

Coventry Herald The ''Coventry Herald'', ''Coventry Herald and Observer'' or the ''Coventry Herald and Free Press'' was a newspaper that was established in 1808 by Alderman Nathaniel Merridew, a ribbon warehouseman and Congregationalist, in Coventry, England, ...

''. He later claimed that he turned down an offer of £30,000 from

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal Party (UK), Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading New Imperialism, imperial ...

to purchase the paper, because Chamberlain would have changed the political alignment of the newspaper. In the late 1860s and early 1870s, he founded various journals aligned with 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 ...

, culminating in the ''Royal Leamington Chronicle'', which gave considerable space to supporting agricultural labourers. Vincent was interested in

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

, and when in 1872 the

National Agricultural Labourers' Union The National Agricultural Labourers Union (NALU) was a trade union representing farm workers in Great Britain. Foundation The union's origins lay in a meeting at Wellesbourne in Warwickshire, held in February 1872. Joseph Arch, a well-known ...

(NALU) was founded in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

, he became a keen activist, organising its first national conference, and winning election as its treasurer. In July, he established the ''Labourers' Union Chronicle'' as its newspaper, although the paper was owned and controlled by him. Early in 1875, Vincent resigned as treasurer of NALU, unhappy that the union had withdrawn support from some locked out labourers. He had also fallen out with the union's general secretary, Henry Taylor, who believed that Vincent was altering reports which had been sent to him for publication in the paper. In the summer, he founded the rival National Farm Labourers' Union, which promoted the establishment of

allotment Allotment may refer to: * Allotment (Dawes Act), an area of land held by the US Government for the benefit of an individual Native American, under the Dawes Act of 1887 * Allotment (finance), a method by which a company allocates over-subscribed ...

s and

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technolo ...

s, and opposed strikes. The new union struggled, and by 1877 Vincent was suffering with poor health. He emigrated to Australia and spent the next decade visiting all the regions with European settlers. He attempted to reorganise the sugar industry in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, and then found work as chief commissioner for the

Chaffey Brothers William Benjamin Chaffey CMG (21 October 1856 – 4 June 1926) was a Canadian engineer and irrigation planner who with his older brother George Chaffey developed what became the Californian cities of Etiwanda, Ontario, and Upland in the Uni ...

, returning to England in the late 1880s. He wrote the widely-circulated book, ''The Australian Irrigation Colonies'', to promote British workers moving to Australia to work for the Chaffeys.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vincent, Matthew Year of birth missing Year of death missing British emigrants to Australia British newspaper editors Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society British trade union leaders People educated at Christ's Hospital People from Dorset