Wright Robinson (1876 – 1961) 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 and politician. Born in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, Robinson completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter. When he was 23, he was seriously injured in a fall, and then discovered that he had

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. He went to Canada to recuperate, returning by 1900, when he joined both 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) and the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

. At the time, he was highly religious, but he later became a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

. In 1911, Robinson was elected to

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

council, then in 1913, he became the ILP's Liverpool organiser. He returned to Manchester in 1917, when he began working for the National Union of Warehouse and General Workers. In 1919, he was elected to

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...

, representing Beswick, then later became an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

. In 1921, his union became part of the new

National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers The National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers (NUDAW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1921 when the Amalgamated Union of Co-operative Employees merged with the National Union of Warehouse and Gen ...

(NUDAW), with Robinson remaining an organiser. Robinson moved to

Burnage Burnage is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, south of the city centre and bisected by Kingsway. The population at the 2011 census was 15,227. It lies within the Greater Manchester Metropolitan area, in the historic count ...

in the 1930s, and retired from NUDAW in 1941. That year, he served as

Lord Mayor of Manchester This is a list of the lord mayors of the City of Manchester in the North West of England. Not to be confused with the Directly elected Greater Manchester mayor. The current and 126th lord mayor is Paul Andrews, Labour, who has served Since ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he promoted co-operation with the

Soviet Union 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 ...

. He was rumoured to have rejected a seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

in 1945.

Wright Robinson College Wright Robinson College is an 11-16 Mixed-sex education, coeducational secondary school situated in Abbey Hey, Gorton, Manchester, England. The college is situated in extensive grounds alongside Gorton reservoir and surrounding greenbelt. The ...

in Gorton and Wright Robinson Hall (on the UMIST site in Manchester) were named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Wright 1876 births 1961 deaths Councillors in Lancashire Lord mayors of Manchester English trade unionists Labour Party (UK) councillors People from Burnley