Frederick Bostock (22 March 1899 – 13 July 1948) was a British

trade union 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 benefits ( ...

leader. Born in the

Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in North West England, southeast of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A major landmark is Gorton Monastery, a 19th-century Hi ...

area of

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 ...

, Bostock began working for the Great Central Railway as a junior clerk, early in 1914. Later in the year, he enlisted with the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

and fought with them on the Western Front throughout

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 was demobbed in 1919 and rejoined the railways, also signing up to the

Railway Clerks' Association The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) is a trade union for workers in the transport and travel industries in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head office is in London, and it has regional offices in Bristol, Derby, Dublin, Manche ...

(RCA). Before the end of the year, he began working as a clerk for the RCA itself. He worked on attachment to the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

(GWR), then the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

, and finally to the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

(LMSR), where he became chief clerk. In 1937, he became line secretary for the GWR and Southern Railway, then in 1940 moved to hold the same post with the LMSR."Mr F. Bostock: Elected General Secretary, Railway Clerks' Association", ''Railway Gazette'', vol.88, p.84 By this time, he was a member of the executive committee of the

International Transport Workers' Federation The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership ...

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 ...

, "Obituary: Fred Bostock", ''Annual Report of the 1948 Trades Union Congress'', p.314 In September 1947, Bostock was elected to the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, and in December, he was elected as general secretary of the RCA. However, he died suddenly in July the following year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bostock, Fred 1899 births 1948 deaths Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders soldiers British Army personnel of World War I People from Gorton General Secretaries of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Trade unionists from Manchester