Joseph Pointer (12 June 1875 – 19 November 1914) was a patternmaker who became 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, ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

. Born in the

Attercliffe Attercliffe is an industrial suburb of northeast Sheffield, England on the south bank of the River Don. The suburb falls in the Darnall ward of Sheffield City Council. History The name Attercliffe can be traced back as far as an entry in t ...

district of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, Pointer became a convinced

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 ...

early in his life, and 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 ...

. He attended

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

for six months to study Constitutional History and

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

. On his return to Sheffield, Pointer took part in a

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

, and was thereafter unable to gain regular employment. He was nonetheless elected Chair of the

Sheffield Trades Council The Sheffield Trades and Labour Council, usually known as the Sheffield Trades Council, is a labour organisation uniting trade unionists in Sheffield. Precursors The earliest recorded attempt to found an alliance of trade unions in the city is th ...

, and stood unsuccessfully for

Sheffield City Council Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under No Overall Contr ...

in 1906 and 1907. In 1908, he was finally elected for the Brightside ward. In 1909, J. Batty Langley,

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

MP for Sheffield Attercliffe died, and Pointer stood for the Labour Party in the ensuing by-election. With the non Labour vote divided between the Liberal candidate, and both official and unofficial

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

candidates, Pointer achieved a narrow victory, becoming Sheffield's first Labour MP. He held the seat in both the

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the first of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the ...

and December 1910 general elections, which the Liberal Party did not contest. In the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, Pointer was appointed as a junior

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

, but died in Sheffield in 1914 aged 39.

References

The Storm of Politics

External links

Sources for the Study of the election of Sheffield's first Labour Member of Parliament, 1909
Produced by Sheffield City Council's Libraries and Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Pointer, Joseph 1875 births 1914 deaths Independent Labour Party MPs Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Patternmakers (industrial) Trade unionists from Sheffield Politicians from Sheffield UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 United Patternmakers' Association-sponsored MPs People from Darnall