Lorenzo Edward Quelch (5 January 1862 – 19 May 1937) was a British

trade unionist 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 Employee ben ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. Born in

Little Bedwyn Little Bedwyn (also spelt Little Bedwin, and sometimes called Bedwyn Parva) is a village and civil parish on the River Dun in Wiltshire, England, about south-west of the market town of Hungerford in neighbouring Berkshire. The parish includes ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, Quelch was the younger brother of

Harry Quelch Henry Quelch (30 January, 1858 – 17 September, 1913) was one of the first Marxists and founders of the social democratic movement in Great Britain. He was a socialist activist, journalist and trade unionist. His brother, Lorenzo "Len" Quelc ...

. He worked for a livestock dealer from the age of eight then, when he reached fourteen, followed his father into working in an iron foundry. He moved to a rival firm for a promised increase in wages, but this was not delivered and he was instead soon laid off, rendering him unemployed for two years until he was able to regain work at his original employer. This enabled him to complete an apprenticeship; during this period, he also married Harriet Rosier, and became prominent in the local

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

.John S. Partington, ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.XIII, pp.319-334 Quelch's brother Harry had moved to London and joined the Democratic Federation. Lorenzo was influenced by this and distributed literature from the group, but was also associated with the local Liberal Party. They gave him funds to start a working men's club in Hungerford, and Lorenzo used this to promote the ideas of the Democratic Federation in the town. In 1891, he was elected as the Berkshire secretary for the English Land Restoration League, then as regional organiser the following year. In order to further this, Quelch moved to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in 1893, and also joined the renamed Social Democratic Federation (SDF). He proved an effective organiser, in particular rallying unemployed workers and encouraging town councils to provide paid labour for them. Through it, he became active in the Agricultural and General Workers' Union, and attended the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

in 1895 on its behalf. Quelch stood for the Reading Board of Guardians on three occasions from 1894 to 1897; he was not elected, although several other SDF candidates were. In 1896, the AGWU collapsed, leaving Quelch unemployed, although he was able to find work for the SDF itself, initially in Reading, then by co-option to the SDF executive as a national propagandist. He campaigned for his brother in the

1898 Reading by-election Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

, then afterwards spent time in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, organising the Coal Porters' Union. He spent six successful months there before moving to

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 ...

, alternating work in foundries and for the SDF. The SDF became the core of a new

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 ...

(BSP), and Quelch was its delegate to the Reading Trades and Labour Council, becoming the council's secretary in 1917. The BSP affiliated to the Labour Party, and with its support, Quelch was elected to Reading Town Council for the Minster ward in 1914. He also became president of the town's new Trade Union Club. Quelch organised a vote of local BSP members to gauge their views on British involvement in

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 ...

; they were in favour, and so Quelch gave pro-war speeches, and joined the National Socialist Party (NSP) split from the BSP. He hoped to be the Labour candidate for

at the 1918 general election, but instead an anti-war Independent Labour Party member was chosen, and Quelch stood against him as an independent NSP candidate. He took only 5.2% of the vote and came bottom of the poll. Following the declaration of the result, he conceded that standing against Labour was a mistake, and he thereafter devoted his time to the party. Quelch remained on the town council, and was also elected to the Board of Guardians in 1919, focusing his time on finding solutions to problems of unemployment and promoting house building in the town. He became an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

in 1933, serving until his death four years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quelch, Lorenzo 1862 births 1937 deaths British Socialist Party members Councillors in Berkshire Labour Party (UK) politicians Trade unionists from Wiltshire Social Democratic Federation members