James E. Matthew Vincent 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, ...

newspaper editor and trade union official. Born in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, Vincent was educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...

, and then undertook an apprenticeship with the '' Sherborne Journal''. In 1857, he married Anna Maria Witty, the daughter of the inventor Richard Whitty, and relocated to

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, where he became the owner and editor of the ''

Coventry Herald The ''Coventry Herald'', ''Coventry Herald and Observer'' or the ''Coventry Herald and Free Press'' was a newspaper that was established in 1808 by Alderman Nathaniel Merridew, a ribbon warehouseman and Congregationalist, in Coventry, England a ...

''. He later claimed that he turned down an offer of £30,000 from

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the Cons ...

to purchase the paper, because Chamberlain would have changed the political alignment of the newspaper. In the late 1860s and early 1870s, he founded various journals aligned with the

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 ...

, culminating in the ''Royal Leamington Chronicle'', which gave considerable space to supporting agricultural labourers. Vincent was interested in

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

, and when in 1872 the

National Agricultural Labourers' Union The National Agricultural Labourers Union (NALU) was a trade union representing farm workers in Great Britain. Foundation The union's origins lay in a meeting at Wellesbourne in Warwickshire, held in February 1872. Joseph Arch, a well-known ...

(NALU) was founded in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

, he became a keen activist, organising its first national conference, and winning election as its treasurer. In July, he established the ''Labourers' Union Chronicle'' as its newspaper, although the paper was owned and controlled by him. Early in 1875, Vincent resigned as treasurer of NALU, unhappy that the union had withdrawn support from some locked out labourers. He had also fallen out with the union's general secretary, Henry Taylor, who believed that Vincent was altering reports which had been sent to him for publication in the paper. In the summer, he founded the rival National Farm Labourers' Union, which promoted the establishment of allotments and

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

s, and opposed strikes. The new union struggled, and by 1877 Vincent was suffering with poor health. He emigrated to Australia and spent the next decade visiting all the regions with European settlers. He attempted to reorganise the sugar industry in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, and then found work as chief commissioner for the

Chaffey Brothers George Chaffey (28 January 1848 – 1 March 1932) was a Canadian–born engineer who with his brother William developed large parts of Southern California, including what became the community of Etiwanda and cities of Ontario, and Upland. They ...

, returning to England in the late 1880s. He wrote the widely-circulated book, ''The Australian Irrigation Colonies'', to promote British workers moving to Australia to work for the Chaffeys.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vincent, Matthew Year of birth missing Year of death missing British emigrants to Australia British newspaper editors Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society British trade union leaders People educated at Christ's Hospital People from Dorset