Henry William Hobart (11 April 1856 – 18 September 1941) 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, ...

socialist activist and trade unionist. Born in Walworth, London (11 April 1856), Hobart completed an apprenticeship as a compositor in 1869, and joined the

London Society of Compositors The London Society of Compositors was a British trade union, representing print workers in London. History The union was founded as the London Union of Compositors in 1834 by the merger of the London Trade Society of Compositors and the Londo ...

. He was elected several times to the executive. He worked in the temperance movement until 1884 and abstained for his entire life. He represented 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 ...

in the union. He was an active supporter of the new unionism movement, for example, assisting

Ben Tillett Benjamin Tillett (11 September 1860 – 27 January 1943) was a British socialist, trade union leader and politician. He was a leader of the "new unionism" of 1889 that focused on organizing unskilled workers. He played a major role in founding ...

in the early history of the

Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' Union The Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers Union (DWRGLU), often known as the Dockers' Union, was a British trade union representing dock workers in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1887 as the Tea Operatives and Gen ...

, and was an organiser of the

London matchgirls strike of 1888 The matchgirls' strike of 1888 was an industrial action by the women and teenage girls working at the Bryant & May Bow Quarter, match factory in Bow, London. Background Match making In the late nineteenth century, matches were made using stic ...

. In 1886, Hobart joined the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James Con ...

, and represented it at the

International Workers Congresses of Paris, 1889 The first meetings of the Second International were held in Paris, beginning on July 14, 1889, on the centenary of the storming of the Bastille. Internecine conflicts within the French socialist movement had prompted the " possibilist" and Marxist ...

. He stood unsuccessfully for the party in the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...

election of 1894, in the St Pancras East constituency at the London County Council election, 1889, and in Salford South at the

1895 UK general election The 1895 United Kingdom general election was held from 13 July to 7 August 1895. William Gladstone had retired as Prime Minister the previous year, and Queen Victoria, disregarding Gladstone's advice to name Lord Spencer as his successor, ap ...

. Hobart was a founder of the London Workman's Committee on Housing in 1898. In 1911, he was part of a committee which relaunched the ''

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'', and he then became a frequent contributor to the paper. Hobart was an accomplished orator, holding audiences spellbound with stories and SDF polemic. His speaking career was derailed by an ear infection which made public speaking impossible. By 1925, Hobart had retired. He died suddenly from a heart attack on Thursday 18 September 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobart, H. W. 1856 births 1941 deaths Trade unionists from London Social Democratic Federation members