Robert Getgood (23 March 1884 – 30 November 1964) was a

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

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 ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. He was born in Ballymacanallen, Co Down, the son of George Getgood, a cobbler, and Eliza Jane Patton. In 1921 he married Annie Thompson. Getgood joined the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union (ATGWU), and later became its Textile Officer.Matt Merigan, ''Eagle Or Cuckoo?: The Story of the Atgwu in Ireland'' He also joined the

Northern Ireland Labour Party The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) was a political party in Northern Ireland which operated from 1924 until 1987. Origins The roots of the NILP can be traced back to the formation of the Belfast Labour Party in 1892. Previously, in 1885 ...

(NILP).Biographies of Members of the Northern Ireland House of Commons
/ref> In 1931, he stood in an election for the Chairmanship of the party against Harry Midgley and Sam Kyle, but they were all beaten by Hugh Gemmell. However, Midgley became Chair later in the decade. During a dispute about the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, Midgley stood down and Getgood finally became Chair in 1938.Graham S. Walker, ''The Politics of Frustration: Harry Midgley and the Failure of Labour in Northern Ireland'' In 1940, Getgood was elected to the Executive of the

Irish Trades Union Congress The Irish Trades Union Congress (ITUC) was a union federation covering the island of Ireland. History Until 1894, representatives of Irish trade unions attended the British Trades Union Congress (TUC). However, many felt that they had little i ...

(ITUC), and he became Chair in 1944. He stood for Westminster for the NILP at the

1943 Antrim by-election The 1943 Antrim by-election was held on 11 February 1943. The by-election was held due to the death of the incumbent UUP MP, Joseph McConnell. It was won by the UUP candidate John Dermot Campbell John Ernest Dermot Campbell DL (20 January ...

, taking second place, with 28.3% of the votes cast.By Election - Antrim
ElectionsIreland.org Getgood stood in Belfast Oldpark at the

1945 Northern Ireland general election The 1945 Northern Ireland general election was held on 14 June 1945. The election saw significant losses for the Ulster Unionist Party, though they retained their majority. 20 MPs were elected unopposed (38%), the vast majority of whom were U ...

, and gained the seat from the Alexander Hungerford of the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it l ...

. However, he lost the seat to the Unionists at the 1949 general election. Getgood retired from active trade unionism in 1947. He resigned as Chairman of the NILP in 1948, after it came close to declaring in favour of the

partition of Ireland The Partition of Ireland () was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK) divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland (the area today known as the R ...

. In 1952, he acted as a delegate to the

Moral Rearmament Moral Re-Armament (MRA) was an international moral and spiritual movement that, in 1938, developed from American minister Frank Buchman's Oxford Group. Buchman headed MRA for 23 years until his death in 1961. In 2001, the movement was renamed I ...

World Assembly held at Caux.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Getgood, Robert 1882 births 1964 deaths Trade unionists from County Down Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1945–1949 Northern Ireland Labour Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Belfast constituencies Politicians from County Down