Jack Fitzgerald ( 1873 – 16 April 1929) was a founder member of the

Socialist Party of Great Britain The Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) is a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1904 as a split from the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), it advocates using the ballot box for revolutionary purposes and oppo ...

. Fitzgerald was an Irishman who had settled in London, and had joined the socialist movement after becoming a

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 ...

, embracing socialism after attending a debate between secularist

Charles Bradlaugh Charles Bradlaugh (; 26 September 1833 – 30 January 1891) was an English political activist and atheist. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866, 15 years after George Holyoake had coined the term "secularism" in 1851. In 1880, Bradl ...

and socialist

Henry 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 ...

. "Fitz", as he was known, was a very well known indoor and outdoor speaker for the SPGB – two of his debates were issued as pamphlets: ''The Socialist Party and the Liberal Party'' (1911) and ''Socialism and Tariff Reform'' (1912)—and was a prolific writer for the ''

Socialist Standard ''Socialist Standard'' is a monthly socialist magazine published without interruption since September 1904 by the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB). The magazine is written in a simple, direct style and focuses mainly on socialist advocacy ...

''. He was an SPGB Executive Committee member continuously from 1905 until his death in 1929 and was also on the Editorial Committee for most of that time. He was also secretary of Clerkenwell branch from 1905 to 1906. By trade he was a bricklayer (as were George Hicks and F. K. Cadman) and after 1913 was on the teaching staff at the LCC School of Building at Brixton. He was an active trade unionist ( Operative Bricklayers' Society) and a cyclist, designing and building his own bicycles. Fitzgerald had been active in the Social Democratic Federation from around the turn of the century, being a public speaker and a delegate to SDF Conferences in 1901 (Central branch) and 1902 (

Burnbank Burnbank is an area in the town of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It was formerly a separate mining village before being absorbed into the town. Location and governance Burnbank, previously an independent settlement, then part of Hamil ...

). Whilst a member of the SDF he had taught classes for the party on

Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

's '' Capital'', where one of his students was Thomas A. Jackson, who described him as "very nearly the best-read man I have ever met". Along with Horace Hawkins he was expelled by the SDF at its 1904 Conference at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, an action which led to the formation of the

. This was chiefly as a result of his unauthorised economics classes, which were continued under SPGB auspices. He was a member of the Provisional Committee of May 1904. Harry Wicks described Fitzgerald in his book '' Keeping My Head'':

…fearless in debate, he was so confident in his own party case that he would take on anyone, be they small fry or big cheese. His style as debater was to treat his opponent, from whatever party—
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
,
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
, Labour,
ILP ''ilp.'' () is the debut album by record producer and musician Kwes. It was released on 14 October 2013 on Warp Records. The release is a follow up to his second EP release '' Meantime''. The record's title ''ilp'' refers literally to the record ...
or Communist—as the exponent of the policy of their party. He invariably knew more about the programme and published material of his opponents' party than did his actual adversary. To get to grips, not with a brilliant speech but with the written word, was his method, the apt quotation to clinch an argument. If challenged, he would dive into his trunk of books to produce the evidence. His audience loved it.

Fitzgerald died of kidney disease on 16 April 1929 in St Peter's Hospital, aged 57.

References

*Obituary in May 1929 ''

'' *

1904–1913 membership register *

1926–1931 membership register *''

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

'' * Harry Wicks. ''Keeping My Head''.

External links

Jack Fitzgerald
at the Marxist Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Jack Socialist Party of Great Britain members Social Democratic Federation members British bricklayers 1870s births 1929 deaths British Marxists Irish Marxists British political party founders