Fred Knee (16 June 1868 – 8 December 1914) 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 benefits (s ...

and

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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. Born in

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, Knee became a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

and moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in search of work. By 1892, Knee was living in Wimbledon and had joined the Social Democratic Federation and the

Co-operative Society A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratical ...

. Becoming well known through a campaign for cheap workmen's train tickets, he moved to Battersea and in 1898 founded the Workmen's Housing Council to campaign for better housing for workers. Knee was elected to

Metropolitan Borough of Battersea Battersea was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in the County of London, England. In 1965, the borough was abolished and its area combined with parts of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth to form the London Borough of Wandsworth. The b ...

on its formation in 1900. He became 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 ...

and the chair of the Housing Committee, instituting a major programme of construction, producing some of the nation's first council housing. Even as an adult, Fred barely reached 5 feet in height and was plagued by ill health: he became known as 'The Mighty Atom'. He moved to Radlett in Hertfordshire in 1901, but remained active in Battersea until 1906. Knee remained a prominent member of the SDF and its successor, the British Socialist Party. In 1913, Knee became the Secretary of the

London Trades Council The London Trades Council was an early labour organisation, uniting London's trade unionists. Its modern successor organisation is the Greater London Association of Trades (Union) Councils History Leading figures in the London trade union mov ...

, but he died the following year and is buried in Radlett. A plaque on the school where he was educated in Milk Street, Frome has been placed in 2014 by the Frome Society for Local Study. He has another (1986) from the Greater London Council at 24 Sugden Road, in Clapham, Wandsworth where he lived.

References

A talk by Sean Creighton for the Latchmere Residents' Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knee, Fred 1868 births 1914 deaths British Socialist Party members British trade unionists People from Frome Social Democratic Federation members Members of Battersea Metropolitan Borough Council