Henry Thomas Muggeridge (26 June 1864 – 25 March 1942) was a British politician. He was the father of the author and journalist Malcolm Muggeridge.

Life

Muggeridge was born the son of undertaker Henry Ambrose Muggeridge in

Penge Penge () is a suburb of South East London, England, now in the London Borough of Bromley, west of Bromley, north east of Croydon and south east of Charing Cross. History Penge was once a small hamlet, which was recorded under the name Pence ...

, which was then a small village but is now incorporated into the city of

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, on 26 June 1864. When the family was abandoned by his father, Muggeridge left school and began work as an office boy in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. The little money he kept for himself was spent on books, and it was his avid lunchtime reading that led to a keen interest in politics. His second job was again as an office boy for a firm of shirtmakers, where he stayed until he retired. He eventually became Company Secretary, but had turned down a directorship, as he felt it would be at odds with his political principles. In 1893, Muggeridge married Annie Booler, the daughter of a

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, 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 Historic counties o ...

factory foreman, and they had five sons, Malcolm being the middle child. Malcolm Muggeridge's biographer Richard Ingrams described H.T. as "a small bearded man with a large frame, a twinkling eye, and a rather bulbous nose which he passed on to his son." Malcolm's first name, Thomas, was chosen by H.T. in honor of his hero

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...

. One of Malcolm's quoted memories of his father is of his visits to the

Surrey Street Market Surrey Street Market (also known as Croydon Market) is a street market located in Surrey Street, Croydon, south London. Records of a market on the site date back to the 13th century. It operates six days a week, Monday to Saturday, and mainly ...

, where he would set up his platform and expound his views on the need for

socialism 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 e ...

: "Now ladies and gentlemen. It's His Majesty's Government, His Majesty's Navy, His Majesty's Stationery Office, His Majesty's this and His Majesty's that. But it's the National Debt. Why isn't that His Majesty's? We'll gladly let His Majesty have that, won't we?" Muggeridge's early interest in politics at first led to his joining the Penge

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 ...

s, and with them he campaigned for local improvements. By his late twenties he was a socialist, and he joined first the

Fabians The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fab ...

, then the Independent Labour Party. An excellent public speaker, he founded and became secretary of the

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

Socialist Society in 1895, and stood for the Croydon Borough Council in Norwood in 1896 and 1897. He was not to be successful until November 1911, although Croydon had already had several Labour councillors. Muggeridge was the first President of

Ruskin House Ruskin House, situated in its own grounds on Coombe Road, Croydon, South London, has been a centre of Britain's progressive movements for a century. It is the headquarters of the Communist Party of Britain and Croydon's Labour Party (UK), Labo ...

, the Labour and Trade Union centre in Croydon, having been instrumental in its relocation and refounding. Muggeridge remained a Croydon councillor until 1930, at which time he also became 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 ...

. He was instrumental in getting Croydon's first council houses built and campaigned for

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 ( ...

rates of pay for all municipal employees. Although he stood for Parliament in Croydon South four times, in

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 ...

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 ...

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

, and

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

, Muggeridge finally became a member of parliament for

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

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 ...

. He lost his seat in

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and returned to Croydon Council in 1933, retiring in 1940, at the age of 75.

Death

He died in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

, in 1942 and was buried in Whatlington, near

Battle, East Sussex Battle is a small town and civil parish in the local government district of Rother in East Sussex, England. It lies south-east of London, east of Brighton and east of Lewes. Hastings is to the south-east and Bexhill-on-Sea to the south. Batt ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muggeridge, H.T. Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1929–1931 Councillors in the London Borough of Croydon Members of the Fabian Society Politics of the London Borough of Croydon 1864 births 1942 deaths People from Hastings