William John Richard Squance (1 January 1880 – 22 August 1948) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

trade unionist. Born in the Landore area of

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, Squance found work as a cleaner for the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

in 1894, and four years later became a fireman on the railway. He joined the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF), at which time he was based in

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

. ntitled article ''Railway Gazette International'', vol.89, p.249 In 1907, Squance became an engine driver. He moved to Goodwick to take up the post, and was elected as secretary of the local branch of ASLEF, and he maintained leading roles in local branches as he moved, first to

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, then to Llanelli. There, he chaired a joint committee of unions during the railway strike of 1911. Increasingly radical, he supported two drivers who refused to move Irish freight during the 1913 Dublin lock-out, organising solidarity action which ultimately led to most of the South Wales railway workers going on strike. Robert Griffiths,
1911 When the State fired on civilians
, Socialist History Society ASLEF set up a GWR Delegation Board in 1915, and Squance was chosen as its first secretary; he was elected to the union's executive the following year, then served as vice-president in 1919/20 and president in 1920/21. In 1920, he was appointed to the National Wages Board, serving for eight years."Obituary: Mr W. J. R. Squance", ''Annual Report of the 1948 Trades Union Congress'', p.316 Following Squance's presidency, he became the union's full-time organising secretary. Active during the UK general strike of 1926, he was imprisoned for his role, but this only increased his prestige in the union, and in 1927 he was promoted to Assistant General Secretary. Squance was a member of the Labour Party, and was selected as the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) for

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at the

1935 UK general election The 1935 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 14 November 1935 and resulted in a large, albeit reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Stanley Baldwin of the Conservative Party. The greatest number of members, a ...

. However, ASLEF decided that, if he were elected, he would need to resign his union posts, and Squance decided instead to stand down as PPC. During the early 1930s, ASLEF's general secretary, John Bromley, suffered from increasingly poor health, and Squance frequently deputised for him. As such, when Bromley retired in 1936, Squance was the natural choice as his successor.''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.XIII, p.55 He also served on the General Council of the Trades Union Congress from 1936, until his retirement in 1939. As general secretary, Squance was known as an outspoken anti-fascist, close to the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

. He took a leading role in the People's Convention of 1940/41, and as a result was expelled by the Labour Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Squance, Richard 1880 births 1948 deaths General secretaries of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress People from Swansea Welsh trade unionists