Joseph Havelock Wilson (16 August 1859 – 16 April 1929), commonly known as Havelock Wilson or J. Havelock Wilson, was a British trade union leader,

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician, and campaigner for the rights of merchant seamen.

Early life

He was born in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and went to sea as a boy, serving somewhere between 10 and 14 years at sea. In 1879 whilst still a seaman he married Jane Ann Watham at Sunderland. In 1882 he opened a "Temperance Hotel" in Sunderland settling down to life ashore at the age of 24.

Trade union activities

He became involved in a local seamen's union established in Sunderland in 1879 and had become its president by 1885. Wilson pursued a policy of attempting to build branches in nearby ports, which met with some success but led to disagreements within the leadership. In 1887, Wilson broke with the Sunderland union to establish his own National Sailors' & Firemen's Union, which was committed to a policy of expansion. Wilson remained president of the union until his death. Wilson rose to prominence in the late 1880s, on the back of the success of his union and his involvement in various strikes, including 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 ...

. Wilson's union suffered in the early 1890s and almost collapsed in 1894. Its revival came in 1911, with the outbreak of a wave of seamen's and dockers' strikes in British ports. Despite his militant tactics, Wilson was a relative moderate whose goal was to establish friendly relations with shipowners and formal conciliation procedures in the shipping industry to enable disputes to be resolved without recourse to strikes or lockouts. This goal was steadily achieved after shipowners recognised the union in 1911 and began working closely with officials during the First World War. After 1917, wage rates and conditions were set by the

National Maritime Board :''This is about the Maritime Board in the United Kingdom. For the Board in the Philippines, see National Seamen Board.'' The National Maritime Board (NMB) was a bilateral board governing wages and working practices in the British shipping industr ...

, which represented the

Shipping Federation {{no sources, date=August 2020 The Shipping Federation was an association of employers in the shipping industry. It was formed in 1890 in response to the London dock strike of 1889 and the successes of the National Union of Seamen The Nat ...

and Wilson's union. In the 1920s, Wilson's reputation as a 'bosses' man' made him increasingly unpopular in the wider labour movement.

Political career

Wilson's first electoral contest was at a by-election in

Bristol East Bristol East is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency recreated in 1983 covering the eastern part of the City of Bristol, represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of ...

in 1890, at which he did poorly. He won his second contest, at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in 1892, in which he stood as an independent labour candidate in opposition to a Gladstonian Liberal, and a

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

. Having secured election, however, Wilson moved quickly to align himself with the

and existing Lib–Lab

Members 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 ...

(MPs) such as

Thomas Burt Thomas Burt PC (12 November 1837 – 12 April 1922) was a British trade unionist and one of the first working-class Members of Parliament. Career Burt became secretary of the Northumberland Miners' Association in 1863, then, in 1874, was retu ...

and John Wilson. Wilson continued to align himself with the Liberal Party in politics despite the establishment and growth of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

. Indeed, he was fiercely critical of the party and of key figures within it such as

Keir Hardie James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party, and served as its first parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. Hardie was born in Newhouse, Lanarkshire. ...

and

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...

. In 1893, Wilson brought an unsuccessful action for

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

against ''

The Evening News and Post The ''Evening News'', earlier styled as ''The Evening News'', and from 1889 to 1894 The Evening News and Post, was an evening newspaper published in London from 1881 to 1980, reappearing briefly in 1987. It became highly popular under the control ...

'', seeking thousands in damages. The newspaper was represented by the

Irish Unionist Unionism is a political tradition on the island of Ireland that favours political union with Great Britain and professes loyalty to the British Crown and constitution. As the overwhelming sentiment of Ireland's Protestant minority, following ...

Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, 1st Baron Carson, PC, PC (Ire) (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician, barrister and judge, who served as the Attorney General and Solicito ...

. In late July 1893, a jury at

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

found against Wilson, and the judge, Sir William Grantham, a former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

member of parliament, ordered him to pay the newspaper’s costs.''

The Sketch ''The Sketch'' was a British illustrated weekly journal. It ran for 2,989 issues between 1 February 1893 and 17 June 1959. It was published by the Illustrated London News Company and was primarily a society magazine with regular features on roy ...

'', 2 August 1893
p. 14
/ref> Wilson retained his Middlesbrough seat in the 1895 general election but narrowly lost to

Samuel Alexander Sadler Sir Samuel Alexander Sadler (1842 – 29 September 1911) was a British industrialist, public servant and the first Conservative Member of Parliament for Middlesbrough, United Kingdom, the town with which his name is associated. Background ...

, a Conservative, in the 1900 election – an election characterised by a considerable swing towards the Conservatives. He won Middlesbrough for a third and final time at the 1906 election. He did not stand in 1910. He was a founder of the National Democratic Party but stood as a Liberal at the October 1918 by-election in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

, when he was elected unopposed. He held the seat as a

Coalition Liberal The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victo ...

at the 1918 general election. His last electoral contest came at the 1922 general election, when he stood as a

National Liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

candidate, but lost his seat – coming third with only 20.5% of the vote. Wilson was noted as one of the most vociferous supporters of Britain's involvement in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Havelock Wilson was buried in Hendon Park Cemetery, with many dockers in attendance having walked to the graveside from Docklands.

References

Havelock Wilson exposed (1921)
Early attempt by followers of Lenin to smear Wilson. *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Havelock Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies British trade union leaders Liberal-Labour (UK) MPs Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress National Democratic and Labour Party MPs National Union of Seamen-sponsored MPs 1859 births 1929 deaths UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 Trade unionists from Tyne and Wear People from Sunderland Politicians from Tyne and Wear Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Commanders of the Order of the British Empire National Liberal Party (UK, 1922) politicians British Merchant Navy personnel