William Charles Steadman (12 July 1851 – 20 July 1911) was a prominent

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 ( ...

ist and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

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 ...

politician.

Life

Born in

Poplar, London Poplar is a district in East London, England, the administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, borough of Tower Hamlets. Five miles (8 km) east of Charing Cross, it is part of the East End of London, East End. It is identi ...

, Steadman began work at the age of eight, and in 1866 became a

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

builder. In 1873, he joined the River Thames Barge Builders Trades Union, becoming its general secretary in 1879 and holding the post until 1908. In 1890, he led a successful eighteen-week

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

, raising his profile. In 1892, Steadman was elected as a

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Italy ...

member of

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

(LCC), representing Stepney. In the 1892 general election he unsuccessfully stood as 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 ...

candidate for Mid Kent; he lost again in the 1895 election in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

. He joined the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fa ...

. Steadman was finally elected as a Lib–Lab

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 ...

(MP) for

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

at the March by-election in 1898 which took place because of the death of F. W. Isaacson in February, who had held the seat since 1896. Steadman won by just 20 votes, beating the Conservative candidate

William Evans-Gordon Major Sir William Eden Evans Gordon (8 August 1857 – 31 October 1913)''The Times'', 3 November 1913 p. 11''d'' was a British MP who had served as a military diplomat in India. As a political officer on secondment from the British Indian Arm ...

who finally gained the seat in 1900. This meant that he now represented Stepney both in Parliament and on the London County Council, having been re-elected there in elections in 1895 and 1898. In 1899, he was elected to the Parliamentary Committee (later the General Council) of 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 ...

(TUC), and in 1902 he was its President. Steadman lost his seat in Parliament at the 1900 general election to Major

. He continued to represent Stepney on the LCC, being re-elected there in 1901 and 1904. He went on to chair the first conference of the Labour Representation Committee, but left the organisation when asked to leave the Liberal Party. In 1904, he was elected as the Parliamentary Secretary of the TUC, the post which later became the General Secretary. In 1906, Steadman again stood for the Liberal Party, and won Finsbury Central. He lost the seat in the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the Conservative-dominat ...

. In 1911, he announced his intention to stand down from his TUC post, but died, aged 60, before this could take effect.

Election results

References

* *

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steadman, William Charles 1851 births 1911 deaths People from Poplar, London General Secretaries of the Trades Union Congress British trade union leaders Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal-Labour (UK) MPs UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1906–1910 Members of London County Council Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress Presidents of the Trades Union Congress Progressive Party (London) politicians Chairs of the Labour Party (UK) Members of the Fabian Society