Benjamin Pickard, usually Ben Pickard (26 or 28 February 1842 – 3 February 1904), was a British coal miner, trade unionist and
Lib–Lab politician.
Early life and family
Pickard was born in
Kippax near
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
in the
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
the son of a collier. He started work as a pit-boy at the age of twelve years.
He earned a reputation as a studious boy and attended Kippax School. He also received religious training as a
Wesleyan
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...
, becoming a local preacher and was connected with the Lord's Rest Day Association throughout his life. He was associated from an early age with the trade union movement becoming lodge secretary at the age of sixteen. In 1864 he married Hannah Elizabeth Freeman of Kippax and they had four sons and four daughters. His wife died in 1901.
Trade union official
In 1873 Pickard was appointed assistant secretary of the West Yorkshire Miners' Association and in 1876 he became secretary. He was responsible for uniting the West and
South Yorkshire Miners' Association
The South Yorkshire Miners' Association (SYMA) was an early British trade union representing coal miners in the southern West Riding of Yorkshire and northern Derbyshire.
The union was founded in 1858 at the White Bear Inn in Barnsley in respo ...
s into one body in 1881 and became the first secretary of the Yorkshire Miners' Association. In 1877 he was assistant secretary of the
Miners' National Union
The Miners' National Union (MNU) was a trade union which represented miners in Great Britain.
History
The union was founded in November 1863 at a five-day long conference at the People's Hall in Leeds. It was originally known as the National Ass ...
and was a leading player in the foundation of the
Miners' Federation of Great Britain
The Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) was established after a meeting of local mining trade unions in Newport, Wales in 1888. The federation was formed to represent and co-ordinate the affairs of local and regional miners' unions in Engla ...
, of which he was elected the first president.
In 1893 Pickard led the miners in the biggest industrial dispute the country had hitherto seen. The result of the combined strike and lockout was the establishment of a Board of Conciliation to address problems arising in the industry and most disputes over the coming years were settled using this machinery. He played an active part in obtaining legislation in the mining industry including the Eight Hours Bill, restricting the hours miners could work underground, although it did not become law until after his death.
International work
Pickard was active in establishing the International Federation of Mineworkers in 1890. He organised six international congresses of miners from Britain, Germany, Austria, France and Belgium which were held in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, Jolimont near
La Louvière,
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
,
Aix-la-Chapelle and London. He also attended about eighteen Trade Union Congresses. In 1897 his interest in arbitration and the work of the
Peace Society
The Peace Society, International Peace Society or London Peace Society originally known as the Society for the Promotion of Permanent and Universal Peace, was a pioneering British pacifist organisation that was active from 1816 until the 1930s.
H ...
led to his inclusion in a peace deputation to
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
, President of the United States.
Politics
In addition to his commitment to the interests of organised labour, Pickard was known as an 'ardent liberal'. He served as a member of the Wakefield School Board from 1881 until 1885 and in 1889 was appointed an
alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...
of the
West Riding County Council
West Riding County Council (WRCC) was the county council of the administrative county of the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1 April 1889 to 31 March 1974. The council met at County Hall in Wakefield.
The county council had jurisdiction over the ...
on which he was a co-opted member. He was re-elected alderman in 1895 and 1901.
In 1885 the Yorkshire Miners Association came to an agreement with the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
allowing the association to nominate the candidate for elections to
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
for the
Normanton division of Yorkshire, a constituency in which more than 60% of the electorate were coal miners. Pickard was selected and won the seat at each election under this arrangement from
1885 until his death in 1904. In return he generally supported the Liberals in Parliament.
Death
Pickard died of heart failure in Westminster in 1904 aged 61, having been ill for some time.
References
*Obituary in ''The Times'', 4 February 1904
*''Who was Who'', Oxford University Press, 2007
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickard, Benjamin
Liberal-Labour (UK) politicians
Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress
UK MPs 1885–1886
UK MPs 1886–1892
UK MPs 1892–1895
UK MPs 1895–1900
UK MPs 1900–1906
Presidents of the National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)
1904 deaths
1842 births
People from Kippax, West Yorkshire