William House (18 January 1854 – 7 May 1917) was an English trade unionist. House grew up in the West Auckland area of

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

. He worked for many years as a coal miner,T. Readshaw, ''History of the Bishop Auckland Industrial Co-operative Flour and Provision Society Ltd'', p.204 and joined the Independent Labour Party. He was elected to

Durham County Council Durham County Council is a local authority administering all significant local government functions in the unitary authority area of County Durham in North East England. The council area covers part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, e ...

, then as a

checkweighman {{Short description, Occupation within mining, especially coal A checkweighman (occasionally checkmeasurer or checkweigher) is a person who is responsible for weighing coal or another mined substance, and thereby determining the payment due to each ...

for his pit. He was particularly prominent in the 1892 miners' strike, and became known for his public speaking. In 1899, he was chosen as an agent for the

Durham Miners' Association The Durham Miners' Association (DMA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1869 and its membership quickly rose to 4,000, but within a year had fallen back to 2,000. In December 1870, William Crawford becam ...

, and he was elected as the union's president the following year, serving until his death. House stood for the Labour Party at

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

for the

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the first of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the ...

and

December 1910 general election The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last general election to be held over several days and the last to be held before the History of the United Kingdom during the First World War, First Wo ...

s, coming within 5% of victory on the second occasion. He also stood unsuccessfully in the

1913 Houghton-le-Spring by-election The 1913 Houghton-le-Spring by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 18 March 1913. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. ...

. The following year, he became vice-president of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain. He was the union's choice to replace John Wilson in the

1915 Mid Durham by-election The 1915 Mid Durham by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 29 April 1915. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. The ...

, but they ultimately chose not to stand him, due to the electoral truce during the First World War.W. R. Garside, ''The Durham Miners: 1919-1960'', pp.322-323

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:House, William 1917 deaths Councillors in County Durham Independent Labour Party politicians Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates British trade union leaders Vice Presidents of the National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain) People from West Auckland 1854 births

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References