Samuel Albert Rosa (31 January 1866 – 25 May 1940) was a British socialist and journalist.

Biography

The son of housepainter Alexander Rosa and Mary Elizabeth Henshaw, Rosa was probably born in Marylebone, Middlesex, London where he attended St Andrew's School and the Polytechnic School of Art in

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George IV of the United Kingdom, George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash (architect), J ...

. In 1884 he was an executive member of the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James ...

, and in 1886 as a journalist in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

was a member of the Socialist Labor League and the

Knights of Labor The Knights of Labor (K of L), officially the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was the largest American labor movement of the 19th century, claiming for a time nearly one million members. It operated in the United States as well in ...

. In 1888 he moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and established the local branch of the Australian Socialist League; on 20 July 1889 he formed the Social Democratic League with William Maloney and W. D. Flinn, publishing a pamphlet, ''Social Democracy'', in 1890. He was later imprisoned for making "inflammatory"

anti-sabbatarian Sabbatarianism advocates the observation of the Sabbath in Christianity, in keeping with the Ten Commandments. The observance of Sunday as a day of worship and rest is a form of first-day Sabbatarianism, a view which was historically heralded ...

speeches, and became prominent as a spokesman for the unemployed. He went to America on 10 April 1886 at age 19 on board the ship 'England' to New York, his destination was Colorado.Ancestry Later on 19 October 1888 Rosa moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

from America and became secretary of the

Australian Socialist League The Socialist Labor Party was a socialist political party of Australia that existed from 1901 to the 1970s. Originally formed as the Australian Socialist League in 1887, it had members such as George Black, New South Wales Premier William Hol ...

. In January 1892 he was deposed and the league began to move towards state-oriented socialism, which Rosa opposed. He married Mary Henrietta Williams, a widowed dressmaker, on 14 June 1892 at

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

. He successfully sued ''

Truth Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...

'' for libel in September, but in 1893 was imprisoned for three months after selling Arthur Desmond's ''Hard Cash''. He ran unsuccessfully for the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

as a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate in 1894 and 1895. He attended the People's Federal Convention at Bathurst in 1896, but opposed

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

. In 1894 he wrote a novella, initially titled ''The Coming Terror'', and later ''Olive Spence, The Australian Ceaser'', in which "Olive Spence" (=

William Spence William Guthrie Spence (7 August 1846 – 13 December 1926), was an Australian trade union leader and politician, played a leading role in the formation of both Australia's largest union, the Australian Workers' Union, and the Australian Labor ...

) leads a socialist rebellion against a plutocratic Federal government commanded by "Israel Smith" (=

Bruce Smith Bruce Bernard Smith (born June 18, 1963) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for 19 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football for the Vir ...

). Contrary to many Federationists, he believed "The unrestricted right of appeal to the Privy Council ... should be preserved at all hazards". He stood unsuccessfully as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 1901. Despite the earlier disputes between him and ''Truth'', he was appointed its editor by his friend John Norton in 1901 and worked for the paper in 1923. He was chairman of the Industrial Vigilance Council during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was expelled from the Labor Party in July 1919 together with

Jock Garden John Smith "Jock" Garden (13 August 188231 December 1968) was an Australian clergyman, trade unionist and politician. He was one of the founders of the Communist Party of Australia. Early life Garden was born on 13 August 1882 in Nigg, Aber ...

and Albert Willis after they denounced the state executive as corrupt and useless. Rosa then chaired the first conference of the Industrial Socialist Labor Party. In 1923, after leaving ''Truth'', he edited ''Common Cause'', the journal of the

Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation The Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation (often known as the Miners' Federation of Australia) was an Australian trade union representing workers in the coal mining industry from 1913 to 1990. It was first federally registered in 1913 ...

, and in 1925 became leader-writer and literary editor of the ''

Labor Daily The ''Labor Daily'' was a Sydney-based journal/newspaper of the early to mid 20th century. An organ of the Australian Labor Party, it was published in Sydney by Stanley Roy Wasson after the ailing ''Daily Mail'' was absorbed by Labor Papers Ltd, w ...

'' when it amalgamated with ''Common Cause''. In 1934 he returned to ''Truth'', and in 1937 he was elected president of the Society of Australian Composers and Authors. He died in 1940.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosa, Sam 1866 births 1940 deaths Australian socialists Australian journalists