George Henry Fletcher (7 September 1879 – 8 June 1958) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

communist activist and baker.

Life

Born in

Horncastle Horncastle is a town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls remains. History Romans Alt ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, Fletcher completed an apprenticeship as a baker and, after a short period working as a miner, found work at Simmersons bakery in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

. There, he started a branch of the

Amalgamated Union of Operative Bakers The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union (BFAWU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1847 in Manchester, it represents workers in the food industry. History The union dates its origin to 1847. The Manchester Friendly Association ...

, and became its chair.Graham Stevenson,
Fletcher George
, ''Compendium of Communist Biography'' In 1898, Fletcher joined the Sheffield Socialist Society (SSS), and around this time, he also started a small bakery of his own. In 1902, he worked with other SSS members to form a branch of the Social Democratic Federation (SDF). He was an agreed joint

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate in the 1905 local elections in Burngreave, losing by only four votes. He also began speaking regularly at open air meetings for the party. In 1910, he was fined 40 shillings for speaking in

High Hazels Park High Hazels Park is a 20-hectare parkland area in Darnall, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Since the 19th century, Darnall has been a centre of the coal and steel industry in Sheffield. High Hazels House, located in the park, was built in ...

; soon after, he was sentenced to 56 days in prison for speaking in

Hillsborough Park Hillsborough Park is a large () parkland area in Hillsborough, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is situated three miles north-westof the city centre. It owned by Sheffield City Council and is one of the 13 designated "City Parks". Histor ...

. Fletcher was elected to the executive committee of the Sheffield Trades and Labour Council in 1914, and as vice-chair in 1915. He organised anti-war rallies, and was prominent in the

No Conscription Fellowship The No-Conscription Fellowship was a British pacifist organization which was founded in London by Fenner Brockway and Clifford Allen on 27 November 1914, after the First World War had failed to reach an early conclusion. Other prominent suppor ...

. He also played a role in supporting the Sheffield Workers' Committee, and was prominent in the bakers' national strike of 1919. In 1920, Fletcher was a founder of both the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and the Sheffield

National Unemployed Workers Movement The National Unemployed Workers' Movement was a British organisation set up in 1921 by members of the Communist Party of Great Britain. It aimed to draw attention to the plight of unemployed workers during the post First World War slump, the 1926 ...

. In 1921, he was sentenced to three months in prison on charges of sedition for speaking in favour of a miners' strike. Fletcher was later appointed as the treasurer of the

National Minority Movement The National Minority Movement was a British organisation, established in 1924 by the Communist Party of Great Britain, which attempted to organise a radical presence within the existing trade unions. The organization was headed by longtime unio ...

. Although he was chair of the local CPGB branch, Fletcher was also adopted as a Labour Party candidate, and was elected to the

Board of Guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the po ...

in 1922, representing

Darnall Darnall is a suburb of eastern Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Darnall is approximately east-north-east of Sheffield city centre. History Darnall was initially a small hamlet usually included with Attercliffe. William Walker, a resident ...

, and acting as the board's treasurer. He was expelled from Labour in 1928, and then stood for the CPGB in Sheffield Attercliffe at the

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

and 1931 general elections. The Board of Guardians was abolished in 1929, and Fletcher stood for

Sheffield City Council Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under No Overall Con ...

unsuccessfully that year, then in 1932 and 1935 in Manor, each time taking more than 1,000 votes. Fletcher's son, also George Fletcher, was a founder member of the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of Y ...

in 1921. In 1923, the two set up a new venture, running bread vans to supply their own shops, which grew into a large and profitable business, which remained in the family until it was sold to Northern Foods in 1999 for £40 million. Fletcher retired near the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, continuing to support the CPGB financially. In his spare time, he was a supporter of

Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

, and would attend their matches most Saturdays. He died in Nottingham in 1958.''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, George 1879 births 1958 deaths British bakers Communist Party of Great Britain members People from Horncastle, Lincolnshire Social Democratic Federation members

Life

Further reading

References