William Edwin Harvey (5 September 1852 – 28 April 1914), known as W. E. Harvey, was a British

Lib-Lab The Liberal–Labour movement refers to the practice of local Liberal associations accepting and supporting candidates who were financially maintained by trade unions. These candidates stood for the British Parliament with the aim of representing ...

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 Hasland,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, Harvey worked in a coal mine from the age of ten. He joined the South Yorkshire Miners' Association (SYMA) in 1869, and was the union's local delegate by 1872. For his

trade union 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 ( ...

activity, he was dismissed from the local pit, but managed to find work at

Sheepbridge Old Whittington is a village in the Borough of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, England. Old Whittington is north of Chesterfield and south-east of Sheffield. The population of the Old Whittington ward at the 2011 Census was 4,181. The village li ...

, then later at

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...

. He also converted to

Primitive Methodism The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primiti ...

and in his spare time was a

lay preacher Lay preacher is a preacher or a religious proclaimer who is not a formally ordained cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presidi ...

.''Dictionary of Labour Biography, vol.1'', pp. 152–153 In 1880, the Derbyshire-based members of the SYMA split away to form the Derbyshire Miners' Association (DMA), and Harvey became the new union's first treasurer. He resigned in 1882, because union meetings clashed with

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

matches for his employer's team. However, the following year, he was elected as the union's assistant secretary. In 1891, he was elected to the national executive of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB), serving on it in most subsequent years, and in 1894 he was the President of Chesterfield

Trades Council A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of labour unions or union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, region, or provincial or ...

. Politically a liberal, strongly opposed to

socialism 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 ...

and syndicalism, Harvey became the vice-president of the

Labour Electoral Association {{Short description, Political motive of the Labour Electoral Association The Labour Electoral Association was a political organisation in the United Kingdom which aimed to get working men elected to Parliament. Foundation The issue of political re ...

in 1894. This organisation aimed to secure the election of workers under the auspices of the Liberal Party, and Harvey was elected to

Chesterfield Borough Council Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constituenc ...

in 1897, serving until his death. In 1906, Harvey became financial and corresponding secretary of the DMA, and his high-profile secured him the Liberal Party candidacy in the 1907 North East Derbyshire by-election. He was successful, and reluctantly joined the Labour Party in 1910, on the instructions of his union. Despite his seat in Parliament, he remained an active trade unionist, serving as Vice-President of the MFGB from 1912, and as General and Financial Secretary of the DMA from 1913. Harvey became increasingly unhappy with how the Labour Party was behaving towards the issue of Miners' representation. In particular he was unhappy with the way

Barnet Kenyon Barnet Kenyon (July 1850 – 20 February 1930) was a British colliery worker, trade union official and Lib–Lab, later Liberal, politician. Early career Kenyon was born at South Anston, West Riding of Yorkshire (now South Yorkshire), the son ...

was treated during and after the

1913 Chesterfield by-election The 1913 Chesterfield by-election was a by-election held for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, British House of Commons United Kingdom constituencies, constituency of Chesterfield (UK Parliament constituency), Chesterfield in Derbyshire o ...

. He therefore decided to resign the Labour whip and re-took the Liberal whip on 30 March 1914."Politics and the Miner." ''The Times'' ondon, England13 May 1914: 5. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 2 March 2014. He died, aged 61, almost a month later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, William Edwin 1852 births 1914 deaths British coal miners Converts to Methodism Councillors in Derbyshire Critics of socialism English Methodists English miners Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal-Labour (UK) MPs Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire Miners' Federation of Great Britain-sponsored MPs People from Hasland UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Vice Presidents of the National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)