John Hunter Watts (1853–1923), known as Hunter Watts, was a British

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

activist. Based 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 ...

, Watts was an active

secularist Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

before joining 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 ...

(SDF). While he was friendly with

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 ...

, he remained with the SDF when Morris left to found the Socialist League in 1885. He then became treasurer of the SDF, and was a notable figure in the organisation's major 1886 demonstration against unemployment.Ed. Florence Boos,
Biographical Notes
, ''William Morris's Socialist Diary'' During the late 1880s, he was the group's organiser in Manchester.Martin Crick, ''The history of the Social-Democratic Federation'', p.318 Watts was elected to the reorganised Executive of the SDF in 1895, serving for one year, then again from 1902 to 1906. He spoke in favour of

socialist Sunday schools Socialist Sunday Schools (SSS) were set up to replace or augment Christian Sunday Schools in the United Kingdom, and later the United States. They arose in response to the perceived inadequacy of orthodox Sunday schools as a training ground fo ...

, and published ''State Maintenance for School Children'' in 1904. In 1906, he was a leading opponent of proposals to affiliate the SDF to 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 ...

. He served on the executive again in 1911, and remained with the group as it became the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of factional struggle, in 1916 the party's anti-war forces gained decisive control of the party and saw t ...

. He opposed the toleration of

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

s within the membership of the new organisation. Always loyal to SDF leader

H. M. Hyndman Henry Mayers Hyndman (; 7 March 1842 – 20 November 1921) was an English writer, politician and socialist. Originally a conservative, he was converted to socialism by Karl Marx's '' Communist Manifesto'' and launched Britain's first left-wing ...

, Watts joined his pro-war split in 1916, the National Socialist Party. His daughter, Frediswyde Hunter-Watts, became an actress, achieving acclaim in Australia.The Allan Wilkie -Frediswyde Hunter-Watts Theatre Collection

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

with her husband

Allan Wilkie Allan Wilkie CBE (9 February 1878 – 7 January 1970) was an English Shakespearean actor of Scottish descent noted for his career in Australia. Biography Born in Toxteth Park, Lancashire, he was educated at Liverpool High School and went to ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Hunter, John 1853 births 1923 deaths British Socialist Party members Social Democratic Federation members