Sidney Box (1873 – April 1958) 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 ...

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 ...

and political activist. Box was one of seventeen children, but was orphaned at the age of eight and began working as an agricultural labourer. A keen Methodist, he began preaching when he was sixteen. He spent periods working as a miner in South Wales, and on the railways, but by the early 1900s was again an agricultural labourer, based in

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of Tudor style timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane a ...

, in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

. He was a supporter of 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 ...

, and at the

1906 United Kingdom general election The 1906 United Kingdom general election was held from 12 January to 8 February 1906. It is dubbed the "Liberal landslide": the opposition Liberal Party (UK), Liberals under Henry Campbell-Bannerman won a landslide victory against a bewildered C ...

, and

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 United Kingdom 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 History of the United Kingdom during the First World War, First Wo ...

s, he was employed as an

election agent An election agent is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is sent by those running the election. The term is most used in elections in the United Kingdom, as well as some ...

for the party, giving him a clear picture of the state of agricultural workers throughout the county. Early in 1912, Box decided to form the Herefordshire Agricultural Workers' Union. Box wrote to Charles Duncan of the

Workers' Union 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 ...

, asking for its support; the union sent

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, often in ...

to tour the county, speaking in support of union membership, and when this proved successful, it appointed Box as its full-time county organiser, and he merged the agricultural union into the Workers' Union. Box proved successful as a trade union organiser; he established fifty branches by the start of 1914, these now constituting around one-tenth of the branches of the entire Workers' Union. He received supportive coverage from the '' Hereford Times'', and survived being shot at while cycling home from a union meeting. Although he left his post in 1915, he was reappointed in 1918. By this time, Box had switched his political affiliation to the Labour Party, and he held membership of 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 ...

. At the

1918 United Kingdom general election The 1918 United Kingdom general election was called immediately after the Armistice with Germany which ended the First World War, and was held on Saturday, 14 December 1918. The governing coalition, under Prime Minister David Lloyd George, sen ...

, he became the first Labour candidate in

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

, taking 24.2% of the vote. He stood again at the

1923 United Kingdom general election The 1923 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 December 1923. The Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, won the most seats, but Labour Party (UK), Labour, led by Ramsay MacDonald, and H. ...

, but his vote dropped back to only 4.7%. In 1954, Box published his autobiography, ''The Good Old Days: Then and Now''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Box, Sidney 1873 births 1958 deaths English trade unionists Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Trade unionists from Herefordshire