Edward Lismer (1883 – 1947) 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 and political activist. Ted was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, the eldest son of Edward Lismer, a draper and his wife Harriett. His brother was

Arthur Lismer Arthur Lismer, LL.D. (27 June 1885 – 23 March 1969) was an English-Canadian painter, member of the Group of Seven and educator. He is known primarily as a landscape painter and for his paintings of ships in dazzle camouflage. Early life ...

who became a prominent artist in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He became a mechanical engineer and in about 1902 joined the

Steam Engine Makers' Society The Steam Engine Makers' Society (SEM) was an early trade union representing engineers in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in Liverpool in 1824, and was able to meet openly in Manchester by 1826, despite the Combination Act 1825 severely ...

. In 1905, he 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 ...

, but he was part of the minority who left in 1911 to join the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of political faction, factional struggle, in 1916 the party's ...

, resigning from this group in 1914. He became increasingly involved in trade unionism, and in 1912 was elected to the executive of the Sheffield Trades and Labour 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 ...

, Lismer was elected as the president of the Engineering Trades Amalgamation Committee, which sought to bring together

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a trades/labour union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the un ...

s from across the engineering trades. This body was later renamed as the Sheffield Shop Stewards' and Workers' Committee, and he worked closely with

J. T. Murphy John Thomas Murphy (9 December 1888 – 13 May 1965) was a British trade union organiser and Communist functionary. Murphy is best remembered as a leader of the communist labour movement in the United Kingdom from the middle 1920s until his resig ...

to establish the movement on a national basis, linking up with the

Clyde Workers' Committee The Clyde Workers Committee was formed to campaign against the Munitions Act. It was originally called the ''Labour Withholding Committee''. The leader of the CWC was Willie Gallacher (politician), Willie Gallacher, who was jailed under the Def ...

and other local organisations to form the Shop Stewards' and Workers' Committees. In 1917, the Sheffield committee organised a major strike, in protest at the conscription of workers who had volunteered for munitions work in the factories. The strike spread nationwide, and led to meetings of 20,000 workers in Sheffield alone. Lismer was a founder of the Sheffield branch of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

(CPGB) in 1920, and was also elected as vice chair of the Sheffield trades council. The following year, he was elected as the organising secretary of the new British Bureau of the

Red International of Labour Unions The Red International of Labor Unions (, RILU), commonly known as the Profintern (), was an international body established by the Communist International (Comintern) with the aim of coordinating communist activities within trade unions. Formally ...

, frequently working from Manchester. He was removed from this post in 1922, but instead became the organising secretary of the party's Sheffield district, and was placed on the Control Commission of the CPGB. In 1924, he moved to Manchester, but retained links with Sheffield, and was arrested there during the

1926 UK general strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government ...

. Lismer entered an extramarital relationship, and in response, the CPGB removed him from his posts.Andrew Flinn and Kevin Morgan, "George Hardy", in: ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.XI, p.103 He moved to Chelsea, and became active in the local Labour Party, while remaining broadly supportive of communism, and active in International Class War Prisoners Aid. He visited the Soviet Union, but otherwise lived in obscurity until his death in 1947.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lismer, Ted 1883 births 1947 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain members Trade unionists from Sheffield