Thomas Summerbell (10 August 1861 – 10 February 1910) was an early British Labour Party Member of Parliament. Born at Seaham Harbour in

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, Summerball worked from the age of twelve in a variety of jobs before becoming an apprentice

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

with the ''Seaham Weekly News''. He was laid off at the end of his apprenticeship, and moved to

Felling Felling is the process of cutting down trees,"Feller" def. 2. and "Felling", def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd ed. via CD-ROM (v. 4.0) © Oxford University Press. 2009. an element of the task of logging. The person cutting the trees is ...

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. Historically in County Durham, it is on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. The 2011 census area classed Hebburn and the Boldons as ...

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

and finally

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

to find work. There, he worked for the '' Daily Post'' before starting his own printing firm.Margaret 'Espinasse, ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.IV, pp. 165–166 Summerbell was active in the Typographical Association and became a supporter of Joseph Cowen. He was also involved with Sunderland

Trades Council A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of trade union, labour unions or local union, union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, ...

, of which he was secretary from 1888, and was a founder of the Tyneside and District Labourers Union. Initially 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 ...

, he was elected to Sunderland Borough Council in 1892, remaining a member until his death. In this role, his major achievement was arranging the municipalisation of the tramways and subsequently electrifying the system. Around the mid-1890s, he became a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and 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 ...

(ILP). He was also the secretary of the National League of the Blind and was active in the Foresters' Friendly Society. At the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting e ...

, Summerbell was elected for the Labour Representation Committee in

, with the support of the ILP. Although there were two MPs for the town, he took up the entirety of local issues, and also became known for his interest in reforms to the indentured labour system in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. Work in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

contributed to his campaign for the renamed Labour Party at the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 UK general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. Called amid a constitutional crisis after the Conservative-dominated House of Lords rejected the People's Budget, the Liberal government, seeking a mandate, los ...

, but he lost his seat. He died suddenly the following month during a council meeting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summerbell, Thomas 1861 births 1910 deaths Councillors in Tyne and Wear Independent Labour Party politicians Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Seaham UK MPs 1906–1910 British trade union leaders