Isaac Burns (9 November 1869 – 7 February 1946), often known as Ike Burns, 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, ...

trade unionist and political activist. Born in

Moor Row Moor Row is a village in Cumbria, North West England. It is in Egremont civil parish and lies on a minor road off the A595, south-east of Whitehaven. In 2018 it had an estimated population of 759. Moor Row is a residential community on Cumbr ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, Burns worked from the age of twelve in an iron ore mine at

Yarlside Yarlside is a hill in the Howgill Fells, Cumbria (historically Westmorland), England. This fell is not to be confused with the Yarlside area near Barrow-in-Furness, once served by the Yarlside Iron Mines tramway. That lies to the west. Nor sh ...

, joining the Cumberland Iron Ore Miners' Association on his first day. He was one of twelve children, but after his father was injured in an accident, he became the main wage earner for his family.Robert G. Neville, "Burns, Isaac", ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.IV, pp.46–47 The mines in Yarlside were flooded in 1891, and Burns moved to

Hemsworth Hemsworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire and had a population of 13,311 at the 2001 census, ...

in Yorkshire to find work at the South Kirkby Colliery. Later in the year, he migrated to the United States, working at copper, silver and gold mines from Montana to Arizona, but he returned to Hemsworth in 1895, and joined the

Yorkshire Miners' Association The Yorkshire Miners' Association was a British trade union. It is now an integral part of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). History The union was founded in 1881 with the merger of the South Yorkshire Miners' Association, and the ...

(YMA). On returning to Yorkshire, Burns joined 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 ...

(ILP), and during the 1897 Barnsley by-election, his cottage was the campaign headquarters for the party. In 1897, he was elected to Hemsworth

Rural District Council Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

, serving continuously until its abolition in 1922; he also served on the Hemsworth

Board of Guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the poor ...

from 1906. He was known for wearing a bright red tie, to symbolise his socialist views. Burns' high political profile led him to prominence in the union; he became auditor of the South Kirkby lodge, then successively secretary, collector, and president, and from 1912 the branch delegate to the YMA Council. In the late 1900s, he was sacked for his trade union activities, but the union stood by him, and after ten months was able to get him a new role as a

checkweighman {{Short description, Occupation within mining, especially coal A checkweighman (occasionally checkmeasurer or checkweigher) is a person who is responsible for weighing coal or another mined substance, and thereby determining the payment due to each ...

at the colliery. He also served on the Yorkshire County Joint Wages Board for fifteen years. Burns opposed

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 ...

, an unpopular position at the time. He was selected as the Labour Party candidate in

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wake ...

at the

1918 United Kingdom general election The 1918 United Kingdom general election was called immediately after the Armistice with Germany which ended the First World War, and was held on Saturday, 14 December 1918. The governing coalition, under Prime Minister David Lloyd George, sent ...

, but was defeated, perhaps due to his pacifist views. He stood again, in the

1919 Pontefract by-election The 1919 Pontefract by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Pontefract in Yorkshire on 6 September 1919. Vacancy The by-election was caused by the death on 30 July 1919 of the sitting C ...

, increasing his vote share to 46.0%, but again failed to win election. In 1922, Hemsworth was given an

Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...

, and Burns was elected to it, chairing it on two occasions. He remained with the ILP after it split from the Labour Party in 1932, and the party considered standing him in the

1934 Hemsworth by-election A by-election was held for the British House of Commons constituency of Hemsworth on 17 May 1934. The seat had become vacant on the death of the Labour Member of Parliament Gabriel Price, who had held the seat since the 1931 general election. T ...

, although it did not ultimately do so.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Isaac 1869 births 1946 deaths English emigrants to the United States Trade unionists from Cumbria Independent Labour Party politicians Councillors in West Yorkshire Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Cumberland