Hugh Hartley Lawrie (1879–1945) was a British trade unionist and politician, elected as Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde from 1929 to 1931.

Life

He was the son of John Lawrie of

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, born there. He was educated at a Board School before working at a local cotton mill from age 11. Later he found work on the staff of a newspaper in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Lawrie became active in the

Workers' Union The Workers' Union was a general union based in the United Kingdom, but with some branches in other countries. During the 1910s, it was the largest general union in the UK, but it entered a rapid decline in the 1920s, and eventually became part ...

and was appointed as a union official in 1910, when the union was campaigning for £1 per week. He is regarded as a protégé of

John Beard John Beard may refer to: * John Beard (artist) (born 1943), Welsh artist and painter * John Beard (colonial administrator) (died 1685), Chief Agent and Governor of Bengal * John Beard (embryologist) (1858–1924), Scottish embryologist and anatomi ...

, and was involved in trying to organise farmworkers, around the time of World War I. Nationally the union's membership rose strongly from 1911. An effort in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

in 1914 involved peat-cutters at Whixall, and with another organiser Arthur Flavell at

Oakengates Oakengates is a constituent town and civil parish in Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. The towns parish population was recorded as 8,517 in the 2001 census. Etymology The name is not derived from "oak" or "gates" but is derived from the ...

, mostly workers in the coalfield there, without attracting agricultural workers in general. It was ended by the outbreak of war. In 1916 Lawrie was based at Tunstall, Staffordshire. Becoming a national organiser for the Workers' Union, Lawrie remained when it became part of the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

. He was a long-term member of the Independent Labour Party. He became active in the Labour Party, and was elected in Stalybridge and Hyde at the 1929 general election. Lawrie was a supporter of the Prime Minister,

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 ...

, and followed Macdonald in leaving the Labour Party to join the new National Labour Organisation. However, he decided not to contest the 1931 general election. He was vice-president of the TGWU Woolwich branch, sitting on the committee from 1941 until his death. He was cremated in Honor Oak on 11 April 1945.

Family

Lawrie married in 1907 Amy Elizabeth Jones, daughter of Llewellyn Jones of Manchester.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrie, Hugh Hartley 1879 births 1945 deaths English trade unionists Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies National Labour (UK) politicians Politicians from Rochdale UK MPs 1929–1931 Workers' Union-sponsored MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stalybridge and Hyde