Edward Duxbury (born 1863) was a British

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

. He held important roles in both the Labour Party and the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

. Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, Duxbury began working in a spinning factory in the

Rossendale Valley The Rossendale Valley is in the Rossendale area of Lancashire, England, between the West Pennine Moors and the main range of the Pennines. The area includes the steep-sided valleys of the River Irwell and its tributaries (between Rawtenstall a ...

when he was eight years old. Initially a doffer, he gradually worked his way up to become a loom overlooker. Duxbury joined the

General Union of Loom Overlookers The General Union of Loom Overlookers (GULO) was a trade union representing junior supervisors in textile manufacturing in the United Kingdom. While most members were based in Lancashire, it also had members in Yorkshire, East Anglia and Essex. ...

(GULO), and in 1913 he was elected as its general secretary, initially serving jointly with James E. Tattersall. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he served on the Cotton Control Board. In 1921, he became the president of the Northern Counties Textile Trades Federation. GULO was affiliated to the

United Textile Factory Workers' Association The United Textile Factory Workers' Association (UTFWA) was a trade union federation in Great Britain. It was active from 1889 until 1975. Objectives The federation was founded in 1889, to represent the various textile workers' unions in polit ...

, and Duxbury served as its vice president. He also served a year as an auditor of the

, and was a trustee of the Cotton Memorial Fund. Duxbury was a supporter of the Labour Party, and served on

Chadderton Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester. Hi ...

Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...

for nine years. In 1923, he was elected to the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, serving a single year."Scenes at the Labour conference", ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 29 June 1923 In 1930, Duxbury served on a commission to investigate cotton production in East Asia. He retired from his trade union posts in 1935. In 1936, he stood unsuccessfully for Bury Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duxbury, Edward 1863 births Year of death missing Councillors in Greater Manchester General secretaries of British trade unions Labour Party (UK) councillors Trade unionists from Manchester