Thomas Mann (15 April 1856 – 13 March 1941) was an English
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 activist. Largely
self-educated, Mann became a successful organiser and a popular
public speaker
Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...
in the British
labour movement
The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...
.
Early years
Mann was born on 15 April 1856, on Grange Road,
Longford, Coventry. His birth house was previously maintained by Coventry City Council, but is now privately owned after being sold in 2004. The property still stands today. Mann was the son of a
clerk
A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...
who worked at a
colliery
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extra ...
. He attended school from the ages of six to nine, then began work doing odd jobs on the colliery farm. A year later he became a trapper, a labour-intensive job that involved clearing blockages from the narrow airways in the
mining shafts.
In 1870, the colliery was forced to close and the family moved to
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
. Mann soon found work as an
engineering apprentice An engineering apprenticeship in the United Kingdom is an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering or electrical engineering or aeronautical engineering to train craftsmen, technicians, senior technicians, Incorporated Engineers and Chartered Eng ...
. He attended public meetings addressed by
Annie Besant
Annie Besant (; Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was an English socialist, Theosophy (Blavatskian), theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist and campaigner for Indian nationalism. She was an arden ...
and
John Bright
John Bright (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889) was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, one of the greatest orators of his generation and a promoter of free trade policies.
A Quaker, Bright is most famous for battling the Corn La ...
, and this began his political awareness. He completed his apprenticeship in 1877 and moved to London, however he was unable to find work as an engineer and took a series of unskilled jobs.
In 1879, Mann found work in an engineering shop. Here he was introduced to
socialism
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 ...
by the
foreman, and decided to improve his own education. His reading included the works of
William Morris
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...
,
Henry George
Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist, Social philosophy, social philosopher and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of ...
, and
John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...
. In 1881 he joined the
Amalgamated Society of Engineers, and took part in his first
strike
Strike may refer to:
People
*Strike (surname)
* Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
* Airstrike, ...
. In 1884, he joined 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 ...
(SDF) in
Battersea
Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park.
Hist ...
.
Here he met
John Burns
John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...
and
Henry Hyde Champion
Henry Hyde Champion (22 January 1859 – 30 April 1928) was a socialist journalist and activist, regarded as a leading figure in the early political organisations of the British labour movement. From a middle-class background, he was an early ...
, who encouraged him to publish a
pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...
calling for the
working day
A business day normally means any day except a legal holiday. It may also mean a business day of operation, any of the days an organization operates. It depends on the local workweek which is dictated by local customs, religions, and business ...
to be limited to eight hours. Mann formed an organisation, the
Eight Hour League, which successfully pressured the
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...
to adopt the
eight-hour day
The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses of working time.
The modern movement originated i ...
as a key goal.
Activist and leader
After reading ''
The Communist Manifesto
''The Communist Manifesto'' (), originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (), is a political pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, commissioned by the Communist League and originally published in London in 1848. The ...
'' in 1886, Mann became a communist. He now believed the main purpose of the labour movement should be to overthrow capitalism, rather than just to ameliorate the condition of workers under it. He moved to
Newcastle
Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
in 1887 and organised the SDF in the north of England. He managed
Keir Hardie
James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, and was its first Leader of the Labour Party (UK), parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. ...
's electoral campaign in
Lanark
Lanark ( ; ; ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a populatio ...
before returning to London in 1888, where he worked in support of the
Bryant and May match factory strike.
With Burns and Champion, he began producing a journal, the ''
Labour Elector'', in 1888.
Along with Burns and
Ben Tillett
Benjamin Tillett (11 September 1860 – 27 January 1943) was a British socialist, trade union leader and politician. He was a leader of the "new unionism" of 1889, that focused on organizing unskilled workers. He played a major role in foundin ...
, Mann was one of the leading figures in the
London dock strike of 1889. He was responsible for organising relief for the strikers and their families. With the support of other unions and various organisations, the strike was successful. Following the strike, Mann was elected President of the newly formed
Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' Union
The Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers Union (DWRGLU), often known as the Dockers' Union, was a British trade union representing dock workers in the United Kingdom, founded in 1887 and merged into the Transport and General Workers' U ...
, with Tillett as General Secretary. Tillett and Mann wrote a pamphlet called ''
New Unionism'', which advanced the utopian ideal of a
co-operative commonwealth. Mann was also elected to the London
Trades and Labour Council and as secretary of the
National Reform Union
The National Reform Union (NRU) was a British political organisation formed in 1864 and was composed mainly of Liberal Party members. At the start of 1867 the Reform Union had 150 branches compared to the Reform League's 400.
The Reform Unio ...
, and was a member of the
Royal Commission
A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...
on Labour from 1891 to 1893. In 1894, he was a founding member 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 ...
and became the party Secretary in 1894. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the party in the
1895 general election. In 1896 he was beaten in the election for Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers. He helped create the
International Transport Workers' Federation
The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership o ...
, and was its first President. He was deported from a number of European countries for organising trade unions.
Mann's religious belief was as strong as his politics. He was an
Anglican
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
and organised support from Christian organisations like the
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
during a number of strikes. In 1893 there were rumours that he intended to become a church minister. He advocated the
co-operative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...
model of economic organisation, but resisted alliance between the ILP and other socialist organisations in Britain, like the
Fabians. In 1895, the Fabian
Beatrice Webb
Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociology, sociologist, economist, feminism, feminist and reformism (historical), social reformer. She was among the founders of the Lo ...
criticised Mann's absolutism and described his goal derogatorily as, "a body of men all professing exactly the same creed and all working in exact uniformity to exactly the same end".
Philip Snowden
Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, PC (; 18 July 1864 – 15 May 1937) was a British politician. A strong speaker, he became popular in trade union circles for his denunciation of capitalism as unethical and his promise of a socialist utop ...
, a member of the ILP, liked Mann but was critical of his inability to stay with any one party or organisation for more than a few years.
Australia and Liverpool

In 1902, Mann emigrated to Australia, to see if that country's broader electoral franchise would allow more "drastic modification of capitalism". Settling in
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 ...
, he was active in Australian trade unions and became an organiser for the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
. However, he grew disillusioned with the party, believing it was being corrupted by the nature of government and concerned only with winning elections. He felt that the federal Labor MPs were unable and unwilling to change society, and their prominence within the movement was stifling and over-shadowing organised labour. He resigned from the ALP and founded the
Victorian Socialist Party
The Victorian Socialist Party (VSP), also known as the Socialist Party of Victoria, was a socialist political party in the Australian state of Victoria during the early 20th century.
Most VSP members were also members of the Australian Labor ...
.
Returning to Britain in 1910, Mann wrote ''The Way to Win'', a pamphlet that argued that socialism could be achieved only through trade unionism and co-operation, and that parliamentary democracy was inherently corrupt. He founded the
Industrial Syndicalist Education League, and worked as an organiser for Ben Tillett. He led the
1911 Liverpool General Transport Strike. In 1912 he was convicted under the
Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
The Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797 ( 37 Geo. 3. c. 70) was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The act was passed in the aftermath of the Spithead and Nore mutinies and aimed to prevent the seduction of sailors and soldiers to commit mu ...
of publishing an article in ''
The Syndicalist'', as an "Open Letter to British Soldiers", urging them to refuse to shoot at strikers (later reprinted as a leaflet, ''Don't Shoot''); his prison sentence was quashed after public pressure. He was opposed to Britain's involvement in World War I on socialist and religious grounds and addressed pacifist rallies.
On 10 June 1913 he spoke at
Wednesbury
Wednesbury ( ) is a market town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England; it was historically in Staffordshire. It is located near the source of the River Tame, West Midlands, River Tame and ...
Market Place in support of strikers in the
Great Black Country Trades Dispute, which lasted for two months and threatened government preparations for World War I. Mann returned to the area again on 3 July.
In 1917, he joined the successor to 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 ...
, 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 ...
, which had affiliated to the
Labour Party the previous year.
Veteran campaigner
In 1919, he again ran for election as Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, this time successfully. He held the post until 1921, when he retired at the age of sixty-five. He welcomed the Russian
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 ...
in 1917 and the Communist government, and called for
soviets
The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" ().
Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...
to be formed in the United Kingdom. In 1920, he was one of many members of the British Socialist Party, inspired by the Revolution, who formed 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 ...
. Mann was chairman of the British Bureau of the
Red International of Labor 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 ...
and its successor, the
National Minority Movement, from their formation in 1921 until 1929.
Tom Mann continued to actively champion socialism, communism, and co-operation, until his death in 1941. He published further pamphlets and regularly addressed public meetings, in Britain and abroad. He was arrested for sedition, on several occasions. He continued to be a popular figure in the labour movement, attracting large audiences to rallies and benefits. Mann advocated
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...
and was supportive of the
Humanitarian League.
Spanish Civil War
On the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
in July 1936, Mann became a member of the Spanish Medical Aid Committee, an organization that had been set-up by the Socialist Medical Association and other progressive groups. During the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
, he wanted to fight on the
Republican side, but was by that time far too old. A unit of the
International Brigade
The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Brigades existed for two ...
, the Tom Mann
Centuria
''Centuria'' (; : ''centuriae'') is a Latin term (from the stem ''centum'' meaning one hundred) denoting military units originally consisting of 100 men. The size of the centuria changed over time, and from the first century BC through most of ...
, was named in his honour.
Death and legacy

Tom Mann died at age 84, on 13 March 1941 in
Grassington
Grassington is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 Census was 1,126. The village is situated in Wharfedale, about north-west from Bolton Abbey, and is surrou ...
, Northern Yorkshire. He was cremated at
Golders Green Crematorium
Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £136,000 in 2021), ...
. A memorial stands in front of the cottage where he died. There is also a memorial on his birthplace in
Coventry
Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
.
As mentioned, in 1936 a unit of the
International Brigade
The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Brigades existed for two ...
was named the Tom Mann
Centuria
''Centuria'' (; : ''centuriae'') is a Latin term (from the stem ''centum'' meaning one hundred) denoting military units originally consisting of 100 men. The size of the centuria changed over time, and from the first century BC through most of ...
in his honour. The Tom Mann Theatre in Sydney, Australia, was named after him. His great-grandson was
Nicholas Bennett,
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
MP for
Pembroke from 1987 to 1992 and a
Welsh Office
The Welsh Office () was a department in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Wales. It was established in April 1965 to execute government policy in Wales, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Wales, a post wh ...
minister from 1990 to 1992.
References
Further reading
* Hyman, Richard ''Workers' Union, 1898–1929'' Oxford University Press 1971
* Pollitt, Harry ''Tom Mann: A Tribute'' 1941
* Torr, Dona ''Tom Mann'' Lawrence & Wishart, 1944
* Torr, Dona ''Tom Mann and his times Volume 1'' Lawrence & Wishart, 1956
* Williams, David ''Not In the Public Interest'' Hutchinson, 1965
* White, Joseph L. ''Tom Mann'' Manchester University Press, 1991
* Tsuzuki, Chushichi, ''Tom Mann 1856-1941: The Challenges of Labour'', Clarendon Press, 1991
External links
*
Tom Mann ArchiveMarxists Internet Archive
Tom Mann in Russia, 1921-1927Digitised correspondence, scrapbook, etc.
Catalogue of Mann's papers held at the
Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collect ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Tom
1856 births
1941 deaths
19th-century Anglicans
Anglican socialists
British communists
British Socialist Party members
British syndicalists
Christian communists
Communist Party of Great Britain members
Cooperative advocates
Cooperative theorists
Delegates to the 5th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
English Anglicans
English Christian socialists
English emigrants to Australia
English emigrants to New Zealand
English Marxists
General secretaries of the Amalgamated Engineering Union
Members of the Fabian Society
New Zealand Socialist Party politicians
New Zealand trade unionists
Activists from Coventry
People from Warwickshire (before 1974)
Social Democratic Federation members
Far-left politicians in the United Kingdom