James Dennis Hird (28 January 1850 - 13 July 1920) was a

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clergyman, educator and author. Hird was born in

Ashby, Lincolnshire Ashby is a suburb of Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire, England. The population of the suburb is included in the Brumby ward of the North Lincolnshire Unitary Authority. Education Grange Lane Junior School is located under the shadow of the Corus stee ...

(now part of

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A pre ...

) to Robert and Fanny Dennis Hird née Kendall.John Beatson-Hird, ''Dennis Hird: Socialist Educator and Propagandist, First Principal of Ruskin College''. Oxford : Ruskin College Library, 1999. Maria Borrill, ''The Kendall family from Ashby Lincolnshire: A Family History''. Author: FastPrint, 2009. He was the second of five sons, though only three survived to adulthood. In later life he became known by his middle name, Dennis, this being the maiden name of his maternal grandmother, Fanny Kendall. The Kendall family, who was well known in Ashby, was credited as the main instigators in bringing

Primitive Methodism The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primiti ...

to the hamlet.H. B. Kendall
''The Origin and History of the Primitive Methodist Church'', Vol 1
London: E. Dalton, 1906, pp. 429-432. Six of Dennis's maternal uncles were ordained ministers in this faith, along with a cousin,

Holliday Bickerstaffe Kendall Holliday Bickerstaff(e) Kendall (2 August 1844 – 10 March 1919), was a Primitive Methodist Minister, President of the Conference (1901).Leary, W. "Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits", (1990), p. 121, hb or sb E ...

. The Hird family were also Methodists and well known in the hamlet. Robert Hird was a grocer and Hird Terrace (no longer standing) was once named after the family. Primitive Methodism was a big influence in Dennis's early life and may be the spark for his

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

tendencies, as it was more favoured by the

working classes The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

of the time.

Ministry

In December 1884, Hird was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

as a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

deacon and appointed to St Michael and All Angels

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. Then a year later he was

as a priest and appointed

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

of Christchurch,

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. Hird's talents and oratory skills were soon recognised and it was decided he could better serve the church in the role of General Secretary of the

Church of England Temperance Society The temperance movement in the United Kingdom was a social movement that campaigned against the recreational use and sale of alcohol, and promoted total abstinence (teetotalism). In the 19th century, high levels of alcohol consumption and drunke ...

(C.E.T.S.) and London Police Court Mission for the

Diocese of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames. For centuries the diocese covered a vast tract and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north ...

, to which he was appointed in October 1887. When it was discovered that Hird was a member of 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 Con ...

in 1894, he was forced to resign from the Temperance Society. He was removed from London to become

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Eastnor, Herefordshire Eastnor is a village in Herefordshire, England, east of Ledbury and the same distance from the tripoint of the county with Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Eastnor Castle built by Earl Somers (d.1841) is within its medieval-founded parish ...

Educational activism

Hird was a member of the

Socialist Educational Association The Socialist Educational Association (SEA) is a socialist educational organisation in the United Kingdom. It is affiliated to the Labour Party as a socialist society. It assists in the development of and monitors educational policies of the ...

, and in 1896 resigned his church. In 1899 he was chosen to be the first principal of

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. The college's governing charter required the institution to show "neutrality in religion and politics", however, Hird, who was described as "a man of a forcible and attractive personality, ...known also to hold Nationalist and Socialist views of an advanced type" was found to be using the college for propagandist purposes and was dismissed from his post in 1909. His sacking from Ruskin led to a students' strike, and he became warden of the

Central Labour College The Central Labour College, also known as The Labour College, was a British higher education institution supported by trade unions. It functioned from 1909 to 1929. It was established on the basis of independent working class education. The colle ...

established by trade unions to provide independent

working class education Working class education is the education of working-class people. History Prior to the 19th century, education for most members of society was elementary and only an elite received advanced education. This was intended to provide members of each ...

Works

* ''The Guide to C.E.T.S. Work in the London Diocese''. London: Church of England Temperance Society, 1890.British Library Catalogue
/ref> * ''Church of England Temperance Society, Junior Division. Health, Wealth and Temperance''. Westminster: Church of England Temperance Society, 1890. * ''Temperance Reader''. London: Cassell, 1890. *
Toddle Island: Being the Diary of Lord Bottsford
', London, 1894. (by Lord Bottsford, pseud. of James Dennis Hird). * ''Wife-lending, How to Preserve the Poor, etc.'' London: Reeves, 1894. (by Walter James, pseud. of James Dennis Hird). * ''A Christian With Two Wives''. London: Watts, 1915. *
Pulpit Science: Is Immortality a Physical Fact?
' London: Wilson, 1897. *
In Search of a Religion
'. London: Wilson, 1897. *
Palaestra Oxoniensis : Palaestra Logica
'. Oxford, 1899. (with W. H. Forbes) *
Was Jesus Christ a Ritualist?
' London: Watts, 1900. * ''The Believing Bishop''. London, 1901. (by Havergall Bates, pseud. of James Dennis Hird)

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

Evening Postbr>
/ref> *
An Easy Outline of Evolution
'. London: Watts, 1903. * ''A Picture Book of Evolution'', vols. 1-2. London: Watts, 1906-07. * ''From Brute to Brother''. London: Clarion Press, 1908. * ''Shear My Sheep''. London: Fifield, 1908. *
Jesus the Socialist
'. London: Clarion Press, 1908.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hird, James Dennis 1850 births 1930 deaths Ruskin College British socialists