William Thomas Colyer (1883–1956) 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 ...

socialist activist. Colyer worked as a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

in the years running up to

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 ...

. He opposed the war, joining 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 ...

, and refused to assist in compiling the National Register, which was to be used for

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

. In 1915, he and his wife Amy moved to

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, joining the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...

. Tom became its state vice-president, but as a supporter of the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, he was a founder of the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

split. In 1922, Tom and Amy were detained on Deer Island and threatened with deportation back to the United Kingdom for their communist activism. While at the camp, they formed a prisoners'

soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. They took their case to the

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maine * District of Massachusetts ...

and lost; they considered further appealing to the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

, but ultimately decided against this course of action, and were deported on 11 April 1922. Back in the UK, Tom published ''Americanism: A World Menace'', which criticised the country for its anti-communism,

Fordism Fordism is an industrial engineering and manufacturing system that serves as the basis of modern social and labor-economic systems that support industrialized, standardized mass production and mass consumption. The concept is named after Henry ...

, and religious influence in politics. He joined both 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) and the Labour Party. In 1926, he became the secretary of the Greater London Left-Wing Movement, and then the founding secretary of its national counterpart, the National Left-Wing Movement. However, at the end of the year, he resigned from the movement, objecting to the co-option of ''

Sunday Worker Sunday (Latin: ''dies solis'' meaning "day of the sun") is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. Sunday is a day of rest in most Western countries and a part of the weekend. In some Middle Eastern countries, Sunday is a weekday. F ...

'' representatives onto its governing body. The CPGB argued that Colyer had been ineffective and had failed to develop the national movement; Colyer resigned from the CPGB, devoting his time to the Labour Party. Colyer became the chair of the Kent Federation of Labour Parties, and stood unsuccessfully as the party's candidate in

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater ...

at the

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and

1935 United Kingdom general election The 1935 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 14 November 1935. It resulted in a second (though reduced) landslide victory for the three-party National Government, which was led by Stanley Baldwin of the Conservative Party a ...

s. However, in 1942, he resigned to instead join the

(ILP). He stood for the ILP in the 1943 Woolwich West by-election, taking second place with 27.2% of the vote, and later served on the party's

National Administrative Council The National Administrative Council (NAC) was the executive council of the Independent Labour Party (ILP), a British socialist party which was active from 1893 until 1975. Creation The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was founded at a conference in ...

, first as a representative of the London region, then as one of four national members.

, ''Annual Report of the National Administrative Council'', 1946 to 1952

Independent working class education

Coyler became an advocate of independent working class education. He wrote reports for the

Labour Research Department The Labour Research Department (LRD) is an independent trade union based research organisation, based in London, that provides information to support trade union activity and campaigns. About 2,000 trade union organisations, including 51 national ...

and worked on revising and writing books for the

National Council of Labour Colleges The National Council of Labour Colleges (NCLC) was an organisation set up in the United Kingdom to foster independent working class education. The organisation was founded at a convention held in the Clarion Club House, Yardley, Birmingham on 8/9 ...

(N.C.L.C: * ''The Worker's Passport : a Study of the Legal Restrictions on Migrant Workers – Prepared for the Labour Defence Council'' London: Labour Research Department, 1928 * ''An Outline of Economics'': Originally written by

William McLaine William McLaine (1891–1960) was an engineer, Marxist and trade union activist. McLaine worked as a mechanic and joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) in 1912. He became secretary of the Manchester No.2 branch in 1916. Opposed to World ...

and published in 1921, this was substantially rewritten by Colyer in 1932 with further revisions in 1949. * ''An Outline History of Unemployment'', London: N. C. L. C., 1936.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colyer, Tom British anti–World War I activists British civil servants British emigrants to the United States Communist Party of Great Britain members Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Members of the Communist Party USA Members of the Socialist Party of America People deported from the United States 1883 births 1956 deaths