Frederick Maddison JP (17 August 1856 – 12 March 1937) 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 ...

leader and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician.

Background

Born in

Boston, Lincolnshire Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Boston is north of London, north-east of Peterborough, east of Nottingham, south-east of Lincoln, south-southeast of Hull ...

, Maddison studied at Adelaide Street Wesleyan School,

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

.(1 December 2007). Maddison, Fred, (1856–12 March 1937). WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. Ed. Retrieved 19 April 2019, from http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-213450.

Career

He joined the Typographical Association and soon rose in prominence, becoming

President of the Trades Union Congress The President of the Trades Union Congress is a prominent but largely honorary position in British trade unionism. History Initially, the post of president was elected at the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) itself, and would serve just for the d ...

in 1886. In 1887, he became the first working class member of Hull Corporation. He took a post in the Labour Department of the Board of Trade,Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, ''Who's Who of British MPs: Volume II, 1886–1918'' and became a labour journalist. Maddison stood as a Lib–Lab candidate for Parliament on several occasions, first in Kingston upon Hull Central at the

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies for ...

and 1895 general elections. He was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Sheffield Brightside at a by-election in 1897, becoming Sheffield's first working class Member of Parliament, but narrowly lost the seat at the 1900 election. A major factor in his defeat was his support for the

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape Colony, Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controll ...

s during the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

. Maddison was not a man of independent financial means and was seeking to represent working class constituencies which were not in a position to bank roll a candidate at election time. From 1897 onwards, he was reliant upon the Liberal Party Chief to arrange for the payment of his election expenses.A Liberal Chronicle, JA Pease 1908-1910. In

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

, Maddison was elected for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

. Dod's Parliamentary Companion in 1907 described him as a Radical, in favour of Old Age Pensions, Taxation of Land Values and Reform of the House of Lords.Dod's Parliamentary Companion, 1907 In June 1908 the Lib-Lab trade union group of MPs debated their relationship with the Labour Party at future elections. It was proposed that sitting members of both groups should be given support, along with any candidates endorsed by the TUC Parliamentary Committee. Maddison was a vocal part of the minority who opposed this relationship. He argued that group members should be free to support any Liberal candidates who faced Labour Party opposition, pointing out on class grounds that the proposal, in this instance, would force the group to back a middle-class candidate endorsed by the Labour Party over a working-class candidate endorsed by his Liberal Association. Even though he was returned at Burnley in 1906, Maddison was on the look out to switch constituencies for the 1910 election. Liberal Chief Whip Jack Pease was keen to find a Liberal to run against the Labour Party's Ramsay MacDonald at Leicester and Maddison's candidacy was approved by Prime Minister Asquith. However, Maddison chose to defend his seat at Burnley. He lost this seat in January 1910. He never returned to Parliament, despite standing at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

in December 1910,

Holderness Holderness is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the north-east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common wit ...

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

South Dorset South Dorset is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Richard Drax, a Conservative. The constituency was created as a consequence of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, although the area cover ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

and finally

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in 1923. He was President of the Labour Association for Promoting Co-operative Production. As a committed pacifist, he was Secretary of the

International Arbitration League The International Arbitration League was a society of pacifists run by working-class men. It was initially founded out of the British Workmen's Peace Committee, by the Nobel Peace Prize winner Sir William Randal Cremer and fellows from the recently ...

. He was a

Justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the County of London.

External links

*Maddison at the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography * http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-47375 *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maddison, Frederick 1856 births 1937 deaths Trade unionists from Lincolnshire Liberal-Labour (UK) MPs People from Boston, Lincolnshire Politics of Sheffield UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1906–1910 Politics of Burnley Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Presidents of the Trades Union Congress Typographical Association-sponsored MPs