Henry Alfred Barker (25 February 1858 – 12 January 1940) 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.

Early life

Born in Shoreditch in the East End of London, Barker was educated at St John's School in

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. It li ...

before following his father in becoming a builder.Barbara Nield and John Saville, "Barker, Henry Alfred", ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.VI, pp.19-21 In his late teens, Barker became interested in science and the social sciences. He attended classes at the

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first polytechnic to open in London. The Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in Aug ...

and some given by

Edward Aveling Edward Bibbins Aveling (29 November 1849 – 2 August 1898) was an English comparative anatomist and popular spokesman for Darwinian evolution, atheism and socialism. He was also a playwright and actor. Aveling was the author of numer ...

for the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...

, and spoke at street meetings on social reform issues.

Political career

In about 1885, Barker joined the Hoxton Labour Emancipation League, an early socialist organisation which at the time had just split from the Social Democratic Federation and instead affiliated to the new Socialist League. Barker soon became secretary of the Socialist League's Hoxton branch, and in December 1886 was elected as the organisation's national secretary. As secretary of the league, Barker organised fundraising efforts, such as a self-written play, "The Lamp". He also continued to speak in public, often chairing Socialist League events. By 1888, he was managing the party's newspaper, '' Commonweal'', but he became disillusioned with the increasing prominence of anarchists in the organisation and resigned as secretary in May 1888. While Barker remained a member of the Socialist League a little longer, and also a member of the Labour Emancipation League, he devoted most of his time to forming a new organisation, the

Labour 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 (su ...

. An organising committee was established later in 1888, with Barker and

John Lincoln Mahon John Lincoln Mahon (8 June 1865 – 19 November 1933) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician, best known as a prominent socialist activist. Mahon was born in Edinburgh, to Irish parents, with the surname "McMahon". He followed in his fath ...

as joint chairs, and the party was officially formed at the start of 1889. Barker stood as a Labour Union candidate for Shoreditch in the London County Council election, 1889, although he took only 169 votes. In June, he was a founder of the newspaper ''Police and Public''; this soon became the ''Illustrated Weekly News'', and Barker contributed articles on the proceedings of the new county council, but the paper closed by the end of the year. He returned to electoral politics as the agent for A. K. Donald when he stood in

at the 1892 general election, but Donald received only nineteen votes. In 1893, the Labour Union dissolved itself into the new

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 ...

. Barker served on the party's initial, provisional executive and proposed that the new organisation named itself as the "Independent Labour Party of Great Britain and Ireland". The shortened version of this title was adopted. Barker was secretary of the printing committee for the 1896 Congress 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 ...

, held in London, working on this closely with

Harry Quelch 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. His brother, Lorenzo "Len" Quelc ...

and

Will Thorne William James Thorne CBE (4 October 1857 – 2 January 1946) was a British trade unionist, activist and one of the first Labour Members of Parliament. Early years Thorne was born in Hockley, Birmingham, on 8 October 1857. His father and othe ...

. During this period, Barker continued to work as a builder, and was active in the

Amalgamated Society of House Decorators and Painters The Amalgamated Society of House Decorators and Painters (ASHDP) was a trade union representing painters and decorators in the London area of England. The union repeatedly tried to expand across the country, but was ultimately unsuccessful in do ...

. He served on its executive committee until 1897, and stood unsuccessfully to become its general secretary in 1895. However, he was expelled in 1898 for refusing to pay a fine relating to spending the society's funds contrary to its rules. From the turn of the century, Barker struggled with increasingly poor eyesight. He devoted much of his time to the

Brotherhood Church The Brotherhood Church is a Christian anarchist and pacifist community. An intentional community with Quaker origins has been located at Stapleton, near Pontefract, Yorkshire, since 1921. History The church can be traced back to 1887 when a ...

in Islington, opposing

World War I 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 ...

and organising lectures after the war by speakers including

Ivan Maisky Ivan Mikhailovich Maisky (also transliterated as "Maysky"; russian: Ива́н Миха́йлович Ма́йский) (19 January 1884 – 3 September 1975), a Soviet diplomat, historian and politician, served as the Soviet Union's ambassad ...

Maude Royden Agnes Maude Royden (23 November 1876 – 30 July 1956), later known as Maude Royden-Shaw, was an English preacher, suffragist and campaigner for the ordination of women. Early life and education Royden was born in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, the y ...

and

Shapurji Saklatvala Shapurji Dorabji Saklatvala (28 March 1874 – 16 January 1936) was a communist activist and British politician of Indian Parsi heritage. Saklatvala is notable for being the first person of Indian heritage to become a British Member of Parliamen ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Henry Alfred 1858 births 1940 deaths People from Shoreditch Socialist League (UK, 1885) members