William John Sherwood (1871 – 14 March 1955) 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 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 politician. Born in

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

, Sherwood left school at the age of twelve. He joined the National Union of General Workers and began working full-time for the union in 1900,"Mr Will Sherwood", ''

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 ...

'', 15 March 1955 later becoming its President. He also became active in the Labour Party, and was elected to Hartlepool Town Council. He stood unsuccessfully for the party in

The Hartlepools The Hartlepools was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. The constituency became Hartlepool (UK Parliament constituency), Har ...

at the 1918 general election, then in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

at the 1922 general election, 1923 by-election and 1923 general election. In 1925, Sherwood was elected as President of the

Federation of Engineering and Shipbuilding Trades The Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions (CSEU), often known as the Confed is a trade union confederation in the United Kingdom. History The confederation was founded in December 1890 as the Federation of Engineering and Shipbuil ...

, holding the post until 1933. In 1924, the National Union of General Workers became part of the

National Union of General and Municipal Workers The GMB is a general union, general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 560,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National He ...

, and Sherwood became its National Industrial Officer. He also served on the General Council of 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 ...

for many years, and was its representative to the

American Federation of Labour The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual s ...

in 1927.''Report of Proceedings at the 72nd Annual Trades Union Congress'', p.6 He retired in 1937.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwood, Will 1871 births 1955 deaths Councillors in County Durham English trade unionists Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Politicians from Hartlepool