Lloyd Jones (born Patrick Lloyd Jones; 17 March 1811 – 22 May 1886) was an Irish socialist and

union activist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...

, advocate of co-operation, journalist and writer. He was born in

Bandon, County Cork Bandon (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It lies on the River Bandon between two hills. The name in Irish means 'Bridge of the Bandon', a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing point on the river. In 2004 Bandon celebrated its ...

in 1811. Described by Sidney and Beatrice Webb as one of "the more thoughtful working-men leaders" and referred to by

Karl 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 ...

as "The Tailor", he was a friend, supporter and biographer of

Robert Owen Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditions, promoted e ...

(his ''The Life and Times of Robert Owen'' was published posthumously in 1889) and aided

Samuel Plimsoll Samuel Plimsoll (10 February 1824 – 3 June 1898) was a British politician and social reformer, now best remembered for having devised the Plimsoll line (a line on a ship's hull indicating the maximum safe draught, and therefore the minimum fr ...

in his campaign to improve safety at sea. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, he resigned from the Glasgow Sentinel rather than write a pro-Confederate article.

Politicisation

Lloyd Jones left Ireland for

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 ...

in 1827 in pursuit of work,Matthew Lee, 'Jones, (Patrick) Lloyd (1811–1886)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 200
accessed 5 Feb 2011
/ref> where he followed his father's trade taking employment as a fustian cutter and soon after joining the Journeyman's Union of

Fustian Fustian is a variety of heavy cloth woven from cotton, chiefly prepared for menswear. It is also used figuratively to refer to pompous, inflated or pretentious writing or speech, from at least the time of Shakespeare. This literary use is beca ...

Cutters was appointed its Secretary. When there was some expectation of another

Peterloo Massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Fifteen people died when cavalry charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who had gathered to demand the reform of parliament ...

, Lloyd Jones, like many thousands of others in the North, provided himself with arms, with a view to active resistance. He joined the

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Co-operative Society in 1829 and ran its free school until 1831. He subsequently became the chief platform advocate for

's plan of village companies and later, when Owen's emphasis shifted to the utopian and religious, Lloyd Jones was a paid Owenite "Social Missionary". He continued evangelising until the mission was ended in 1845. For many years, these plans were vigorously opposed by the clergy who regarded Owen's theories as immoral. Lloyd Jones had a good presence and a fine voice, with readiness and courage in controversy. He was regarded as the best public debater of his day, and was in more discussions than any other of Owen's supporters. When the

Chartists Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, w ...

' proposal of a month's annual holiday was put forward in 1839 with a view to showing practically the importance of the labouring classes, Lloyd Jones was appointed to address the Chartists of the Manchester district with whom the strength of the movement rested. An audience of five thousand men assembled in the Carpenters' Hall and a further five thousand outside. After Lloyd Jones' speech in opposition to the "sacred month", the project was abandoned. He was later appointed a member of the first

Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

and was the first secretary of the

Labour Representation League The Labour Representation League (LRL), organised in November 1869, was a forerunner of the British Labour Party. Its original purpose was to register the working class to vote, and get workers into Parliament. It had limited power, described ...

Religion

Lloyd Jones was born into an Irish family of Welsh immigrant ancestry but, in 1837, dropped his forename, Patrick, as a way of distancing himself from his father who had converted to Catholicism in the Protestant town of Bandon. His views became not only anti-Catholic but also anti-Christian, blaming "a great portion" of the evils in the world on Christianity. Jones, however, stopped short of

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

and held views which nowadays would be considered

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

"Now what is an atheist? Is it not a man who denies the existence of God? Did I do that? Did I not tell you my knowledge was not sufficient to enable me to say that that being did not exist? Did I not tell I could not say he was there, nor positively say that he was not there?"

Co-operative movement

From 1837, until his death, Lloyd Jones was officially connected with the co-operative movement and had a chief part in its organization and development. He largely contributed to political and co-operative journalism editing periodicals in Leeds and London as well as writing many pamphlets. Jones was founder of the Co-operative Industrial and Commercial Union, was on the inaugural board of the

Co-operative Union Co-operatives UK is a British co-operative federation described as "the central membership organisation for co-operative enterprise throughout the UK". It was founded in 1870 as the Co-operative Central Board, changing its name to the Co-oper ...

and was involved in the organization of the first annual

Co-operative Congress The Co-operative Congress is the national conference of the UK Co-operative Movement. The first of the modern congresses took place in 1869 following a series of meetings called the "Owenite Congress" in the 1830s. Members of Co-operatives UK (p ...

in 1869. He was President of the Co-operative Congress four times including the Oldham Congress, 1885, the seventeenth annual meeting of the co-operative movement and was frequently appointed an arbitrator in trade union disputes.

Death

Jones died of cancer at home in

Stockwell Stockwell is a district in south west London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. Battersea, Brixton, Clapham, South Lambeth, Oval and Kennington all border Stockwell. History The na ...

, London on 22 May 1886. He is buried in

Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of L ...

with his wife who outlived him for only nine days.

Memorials

His name is listed at the base of the Reformers Memorial in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and is one of the few with additional comments.

Selected publications

*''A reply to Mr. R. Carlile's objections to the five fundamental facts as laid down by Mr. Owen'' A. Heywood, Manchester, 1837 *''The Progress of the Working Class, 1832–1867'' (with

John Malcolm Forbes Ludlow John Malcolm Forbes Ludlow (8 March 1821 – 17 October 1911) was an Anglo-Indian barrister. He led the Christian socialist movement and founded its newspaper of the same name. Biography He was born in Nimach, British India, where his father wo ...

), A.Strahan, London, 1867 *''Life, Times and Labours of Robert Owen'' 1889

Selected journalism

*Spirit of the Age (1848) *Spirit of the Times (1849) *Glasgow Sentinel (1850–1863) (writing as ''Cromwell'') *North British Daily Mail (1859–1865) *London Reader (1863) *Industrial Partnerships Record (1867–1869) *

Bee-hive A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...

and Industrial Review (1871–1878) *Co-operative News (1870s–80s) *Newcastle Daily and Weekly Chronicles (1876–1886)Alon Kadish, ''Apostle Arnold: the life and death of Arnold Toynbee, 1852–1883'', p84 , Duke University Press, 1986 *Miner's Watchman and Labour Sentinel (1878)

References

;Attribution

External links

''The Progress of the Working Classes'' on Google Books

''A reply to Mr. R. Carlile's objections to the five fundamental facts as laid down by Mr. Owen'' on Google Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Lloyd 1811 births 1886 deaths Irish cooperative organizers British socialists Irish socialists British trade unionists Irish trade unionists People from County Cork Burials at West Norwood Cemetery Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress Presidents of Co-operative Congress Owenites