![Harry Quelch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Harry_Quelch.gif)
Henry Quelch (30 January, 1858 – 17 September, 1913) was one of the first
Marxists and founders of the
social democratic movement in Great Britain. He was a socialist activist, journalist and
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 ...
. His brother,
Lorenzo "Len" Quelch, was also a socialist activist, while his son,
Tom Quelch
Thomas Quelch (1886–1954) was a British journalist and the son of veteran Marxist Harry Quelch. a member of the British Socialist Party in the early part of the 20th century, becoming a communist activist in Great Britain in the 1920s.
Quelch ...
, achieved note as a prominent
communist activist.
Biography
Early years
Harry Quelch was born 30 January 1858 in the small town of
Hungerford
Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...
, Berkshire, England. He was the son and grandson of a village blacksmith; his maternal grandfather had been an agricultural labourer.
Circumstances forced the eldest child, Harry, into the world to contribute to the family's maintenance from a very young age, with Harry taking his first job at the age of 10. He worked variously in an upholsterer's shop and later for a local dairyman and cattle dealer. At the age of 14 he left Berkshire for good to make his way in the big city of London.
In London the boy worked a succession of jobs in a biscuit factory, in a
tannery
Tanning may refer to:
*Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather
*Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin
**Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun
**Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...
, and in an
iron foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
before landing a better job as a packer in a paper warehouse. This last job allowed the boy sufficient free time to teach himself French. It was in this language that he first read the writing of
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
as part of the process of his
self-education
Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individu ...
. It was in this way that he was converted to the ideas of
Social-Democracy. He also later taught himself German, the ''de facto'' official language of international socialism.
Quelch married in 1879 and soon fathered a family of his own. His son, Tom, followed in his father's footsteps as a radical political activist, becoming a founding member of the
Communist Party of Great Britain.
Political career
Harry Quelch joined the Democratic Federation (forerunner of the
Social Democratic Federation, SDF) in 1881 at the age of 23. Just two years later the young man was elected to its executive. In April 1884 Quelch became an international delegate of the British socialist movement for the first time when he and Hyndman were sent to Paris to attend a congress of the French Workers' Party.
When a large section of the party's active membership, led by
William Morris
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
, departed the SDF in 1884 to form the
Socialist League, Quelch stayed behind, redoubling his efforts on behalf of the organisation. it was around this time that Quelch's abilities as a speaker and journalist began to fully develop.
[Bax, "Introduction," op. cit.]
Quelch became the full-time editor of the SDF's newspaper, ''
Justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
''. He also represented the SDF on bodies including various
strike
Strike may refer to:
People
* Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
committees and the
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...
, and at socialist conferences across Europe.
He was heavily involved in the
London dock strike of 1889
The London dock strike was an industrial dispute involving dock workers in the Port of London. It broke out on 14 August 1889, and resulted in victory for the 100,000 strikers and established strong trade unions amongst London dockers, one of whi ...
, and was the main organiser and first general secretary of the
South Side Labour Protection League
The South Side Labour Protection League was a trade union organising dock porters and stevedores in the United Kingdom.
Until the mid-1880s, dock porters in the docks on the south side of the River Thames in London were represented by the Labou ...
, a union for dock workers founded after the strike.
He was elected several times as the chair 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 ...
, and was one of the founders of the
Labour Representation Committee. From 1892 until the end of 1908, he was also the business manager for the
20th Century Press, a radical publisher.
In 1901, Quelch arranged for the SDF to print
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
's newspaper ''
Iskra
''Iskra'' ( rus, Искра, , ''the Spark'') was a political newspaper of Russian socialist emigrants established as the official organ of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP).
History
Due to political repression under Tsar Nicho ...
'' which had been banned in Russia. A thin partition was installed in a small corner of the printing works and Quelch was forced to "squeeze up" into these cramped quarters as a makeshift editorial office to make room for the Russians. There was only room for a small writing desk with a bookshelf above it and a single chair.
Quelch was a perennial representative of the British socialist movement to international gatherings of the
Second International
The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous Paris meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued th ...
. He attended Congress of the International in
Paris in 1889,
Brussels in 1891,
Zurich in 1893,
London in 1896,
Paris in 1900,
Amsterdam in 1904,
Stuttgart in 1907, and finally at
Copenhagen in 1910.
It was as a delegate of the SDF to the 1907 Stuttgart Congress that Quelch achieved his greatest notoriety as an international socialist. There in a speech he condemned an international conference of diplomats then sitting at
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
, attended by
Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...
, as a "thieves' supper." Government authorities were swift in expelling Quelch from the country for his remarks, an action which boosted British esteem in the eyes of their radical peers.
Death and legacy
Harry Quelch was chronically ill from about the beginning of 1912 until his death in London on 17 September 1913, at the age of 55. Sanitariums and bracing sea air proved insufficient to cure whatever the illness from which he suffered. His funeral was a political event, attended by socialists from all over the country. He was buried at Camberwell Old Cemetery, Southwark, on Saturday, 20 September.
Lenin remembered his friend with a memorial article published in the
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
newspapers ''Pravda Truda''
abour Truthand ''Nash Put
ur Path
Harry Quelch was one of the most energetic and devoted workers in the British Social-Democratic movement. He was active not only as a Social-Democratic Party worker, but also as a trade unionist. The London Society of Compositors repeatedly elected him its chairman, and he was several times Chairman of the London Trades Council.
He took a very active part in all the work of the British Social-Democratic movement and regularly addressed party and public meetings. On many occasions he represented British Social-Democracy at international congresses and on the International Socialist Bureau.
Quelch was in the front ranks of those who fought steadfastly and with conviction against opportunism
Opportunism is the practice of taking advantage of circumstances – with little regard for principles or with what the consequences are for others. Opportunist actions are expedient actions guided primarily by self-interested motives. The term ...
and a liberal-labour policy in the British working class movement.... er the whole of Britain the Social-Democrats, and they ''alone'', have for decades been carrying on systematic propaganda and agitation in the Marxist spirit. This is the great historical service rendered by Quelch and his comrades.[V.I. Lenin, "Harry Quelch," pp. 369–371.]
Footnotes
External links
Harry Quelch Internet Archive Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Quelch, Harry
1858 births
1913 deaths
British Socialist Party members
British trade unionists
Social Democratic Federation members