George Howell (trade unionist)

George Howell
George Howell
Born	5 October 1833; Wrington, England
Died	17 September 1910 (aged 76); Shepherd's Bush, London, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Trade unionist

George Howell (5 October 1833 – 17 September 1910) was an English

Lib-Lab politician, who sat in the House of Commons

from 1885 to 1895.

Biography

George Howell was born in

Book of Martyrs and John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress

.

Howell grew to dislike his work as a builder so became an apprentice shoemaker. Some of the men he worked with were active

Methodists, and Howell attended some of their meetings at Wrington Chapel, before becoming a lay preacher. He also became involved in the local temperance movement

.

Howell moved to London in 1854 where he resumed work as a bricklayer, unable to find employment as a shoemaker. He attended many radical political meetings and met prominent radical thinkers of the day, including

New Model Trade Union) in 1859, and played a part in leading the London builders' strike in support of a nine-hour working day. Through his work with the union he became one of the foremost New Model unionists, along with Robert Applegarth and George Potter

, but was blacklisted by employers for five years.

He was elected, along with Potter and Applegarth, to the executive of the

1867 Reform Act

. However, Howell was not satisfied with the scale of the reform and continued to campaign for universal suffrage.

In 1871 Howell was appointed secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), and regularly contributed to the trade unionist journal The Bee-Hive as well as publishing a number of books throughout the 1870s.

Howell stood for parliament unsuccessfully at

Mancherjee Bhownagree in 1895

.

In poor health, Howell retired from public life. His old friend Robert Applegarth and the TUC raised a £1650 testimonial to buy him an annuity before his death. On 17 September 1910, he died at 35 Findon Road, Shepherd's Bush, and was buried at Nunhead Cemetery.^[3]

Notable works

A Handy Book of Labour Laws 1876
'The History of the International Working Men's Association' 1878
Conflicts of Capital and Labour 1878
Trade Unionism New and Old 1891
Labour Legislation, Labour Movements and Labour Leaders 1902

References

^ ^a ^b "Debrett's House of Commons". London Dean – via Internet Archive.
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
^ MacDonald, James Ramsay (1912). "Howell, George" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.

External links

Media related to George Howell (trade unionist) at Wikimedia Commons
Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Howell
Spartacus
George Howell's archive and library at Bishopsgate Library

Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green North East 1885–1895	Succeeded by Mancherjee Bhownagree
Trade union offices
Preceded by Tom Jones	Secretary of the London Trades Council 1861–1862	Succeeded by George Odger
Preceded by George Odger	Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee of the TUC 1873–1876	Succeeded by Henry Broadhurst

[Debrett-1] "Debrett's House of Commons". London Dean – via Internet Archive.

[2] Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)

[3] MacDonald, James Ramsay (1912). "Howell, George" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.

[3]

Authority control databases
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Biography

Notable works

References

Further reading

External links