William Owen (6 December 1844 – 11 October 1912) 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, ...

trade unionist 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 Employee ben ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and political activist. Owen was born in

Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent. T ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. His father, John Owen, had been involved in local trade unionism since the 1830s, and claimed that they were related to

Robert Owen Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditions, promoted e ...

. Although his family were

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

s, Owen joined the

Methodist church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

in his youth.Aled Jones, "Owen, William", ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.IX, pp.227-230 Owen completed an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

as a pottery turner, but also taught himself

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...

and by the middle of the 1860s, he had become a journalist. In 1867, he was appointed as editor of the ''Potteries Examiner and Workman's Advocate'', the journal of the United Branches of Operative Potters, a local trade union. He tried to turn the publication into a more general labour movement newspaper, printing articles about developments in other trades, national and international news, and even works of literature. Owen followed his father in promoting trade unionism, and supported A. J. Mundella's efforts to set up industrial arbitration boards. In 1868, a Potteries Board was established, and Owen was appointed as its first secretary. He attended early

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) meetings to promote the idea of formalised arbitration and conciliation, and was elected to the

Parliamentary Committee of the TUC A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

in 1873, though he was only in post for a year. He devoted much of the early 1870s attempting to form an international union for pottery workers, although this attracted little interest outside the local area. In 1873, Owen launched a new paper, the ''Labour Press, Miners' and Workmen's Examiner'', with the intention that this would provide much of the material for a series of local labour newspapers around the country. This was initially successful, leading him to resign from the ''Potteries Examiner'' in 1874, and move to

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

, continuing to publisher the ''Examiner'' and also launch the new ''Wolverhampton Times''. However, circulation gradually fell; in 1877, all the publications were consolidated into the ''Midland Examiner and Wolverhampton Times'', promoting more orthodox liberal politics, and this closed two years later. Owen returned to Staffordshire, settling in Hanley, where he again took over the ''Potteries Examiner'', but this closed in 1880, and he thereafter launched a string of largely unsuccessful papers, the ''Staffordshire Knot'' being the most enduring. Owen became active in the local

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 ...

, and was elected to Hanley Town Council. At the

1886 United Kingdom general election The 1886 United Kingdom general election took place from 1 to 27 July 1886, following the defeat of the Government of Ireland Bill 1886. It resulted in a major reversal of the results of the 1885 election as the Conservatives, led by Lord Salis ...

, he stood in Sheffield Ecclesall, where he was defeated, taking 2,688 votes to the winner's 3,930. He renewed his links with local unions, and was the leading figure in a major strike of potters in 1881; this destroyed the United Branches, but Owen founded a new National Order of Potters in 1882 as its replacement. He was linked with the union for many years, and was again a leading figure during a

lock-out A lockout is a work stoppage or denial of employment initiated by the management of a company during a labour dispute. In contrast to a strike, in which employees refuse to work, a lockout is initiated by employers or industry owners. Lockouts ...

in 1892. Owen retired in 1897, although he continued to write newspaper articles, principally on the topic of arbitration.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, William 1844 births 1912 deaths Councillors in Staffordshire English journalists Liberal Party (UK) councillors Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress People from Burslem Trade unionists from Staffordshire