Thomas Quelch (1886–1954) was a British journalist and the son of veteran

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

Harry Quelch. a member of 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 ...

in the early part of the 20th century, becoming a

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

activist in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

in the 1920s. Quelch 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), of which both his father, Harry, and his uncle, Lorenzo were members. The SDF formed the British Socialist Party (BSP), and Quelch came to attention in 1912 when he issued an appeal for soldiers to refuse to act as strikebreakers. This caused a Conservative MP, Oliver Locker-Lampson, to complain about him in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. Quelch was involved in founding '' The Call'' in 1916, resisting attempts to turn the BSP into a Social Patriotic organisation at the outbreak of the

First World War 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 ...

. However he was reluctant concerning the presence of African workers in the United Kingdom, raising concerns not merely that they might scab on strikes, but also that they might strike up sexual relationships with English women. He was one of 13 conveners of the

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

convention to hail the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, held on 3 June 1917, and was appointed a member of the Central Committee of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Delegates at the event. Quelch was delegated with such as John S. Clarke, Helen Crawfurd, Williie Gallacher, William McLaine, JT Murphy,

Sylvia Pankhurst Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst (; 5 May 1882 – 27 September 1960) was an English Feminism, feminist and Socialism, socialist activist and writer. Following encounters with women-led labour activism in the United States, she worked to organise worki ...

, Marjory Newbold Dave Ramsay and Jack Tanner to attend the Second Congress of the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

and attended the

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Congress of the Peoples of the East. He was elected to the

Executive Committee of the Communist International The Executive Committee of the Communist International, commonly known by its acronym, ECCI (Russian acronym ИККИ - for ), was the governing authority of the Comintern between the World Congresses of that body. The ECCI, established by the Fo ...

, and also served on the Central Committee 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) from 1923 until 1925. Quelch worked for the

Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians The Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) was a British and Republic of Ireland, Irish trade union, operating in the construction industry. It was founded in 1971, and merged into Unite (trade union), Unite on 1 January ...

from 1924 until his retirement in 1953. He was living in

Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a suburb of southwest London, England, southwest of Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,189 in 2011 which includes the electoral wards of Abbey, Wimb ...

in 1940, when he wrote to the ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' with reminiscences of his meetings with

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

.Tom Quelch, letter to editor, ''

'', 14 February 1940 A few years before his death, he resigned from the CPGB.

Writings

"Mendelism: A review"
(review of R.C. Punnett ''Mendelism'' first published in ''Justice'' weekly newspaper of the Social Democratic Federation, SDF, in the United Kingdom), reprinted in ''Wilshire’s Magazine'' (USA), vol. 11, August 1909.

''

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

'', 1 October 1910, p. 3 * 'The New Paganism', ''The New Review'', June 1913, pp. 593–95.
The War and Its Outcome
''Justice'', 17 September 1914, p. 4 * 'Parliamentarianism, Lenin and the BSP', ''The Call'', 22 January 1920

''The Call'', No. 200, 5 February 1920 * (with William McLaine
Report as to the Communist Movement in Britain
''The Communist International'', June–July 1920, no.11-12, pp. 2241–46
Print in Russia
''The London Typographical Journal'', Vol. XVI, No. 191 (November 1921), p. 10

''The Communist International'', 1921, No. 16-17, pp. 99–100

'' The Labour Monthly'', Vol. 2, No. 3 (March 1922), pp. 238–50
The Importance of Trades Councils
''The Labour Monthly'', Vol. 8, No. 5 (May 1926), pp. 313–7 * 'Foreword'

1926 .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quelch, Tom 1886 births 1954 deaths British Socialist Party members Communist Party of Great Britain members Executive Committee of the Communist International Social Democratic Federation members