Thomas Hargrave Bell (20 September 1882 – 19 April 1944) was a Scottish

socialist 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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

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 ...

. He is best remembered as a founding member of both the Socialist Labour Party and 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 ...

and as the editor of ''Communist Review,'' the official monthly magazine of the latter.

Biography

Early years

Thomas Bell was born in

Parkhead Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necropo ...

on the east end of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, which was at that time still a semi-rural village. His father was a

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

who was frequently unemployed, while his mother came from a family of

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

s and worked at home spinning cotton and

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

. Young Tom enrolled in school in the spring of 1889 and left in the spring of 1894, at the age of 11, going to work first as a milk delivery boy and then as an employee at a soft drink bottling plant to help support his impoverished family. While an employee at the bottling shop, Bell became interested in

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

and labour politics. He read rationalist works by

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new sp ...

and

Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stor ...

as well as works on

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

and gradually became acquainted with

ideas. Together with two companions, Bell joined the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

(ILP) in 1900. The young "socialist idealist and enthusiast" Bell found the rather mild and ameliorative program of the ILP insufficient and in 1902 he began to attend economics classes conducted by the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James Con ...

(SDF), headed by

Henry Hyndman Henry Mayers Hyndman (; 7 March 1842 – 20 November 1921) was an English writer, politician and socialist. Originally a conservative, he was converted to socialism by Karl Marx's ''Communist Manifesto'' and launched Britain's first left-wing p ...

, which introduced Bell to the literature of

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

. In February 1903, Bell left the ILP and enrolled as a member of the SDF. Some of the SDF classes which Bell attended were led by

George Yates George Wilhelmus Mancius Yates (February 26, 1843 – June 25, 1876) was an officer in the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment. He was killed in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Biography Yates was born in Albany, New York. He met Custer in Monroe, Mich ...

, an engineer by trade who impressed the young Bell with his skill as an orator and knowledge of economics, history, and politics. In the spring of 1903, Bell would follow Yates and the group of

revolutionary socialist Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revoluti ...

impossiblists around him out of the SDF and join in the foundation of the Socialist Labour Party, a rival organization.Bell, ''Pioneering Days,'' pp. 39-40. Bell began a seven-year apprenticeship as an iron moulder, but left after nine months to another foundry, where he exaggerated the duration of his previous experience and gained a job on somewhat more favourable terms.Bell, ''Pioneering Days,'' pp. 61-62. After two years there, he went to another foundry that made gas engines, completing his seven-year apprenticeship and joining the

Associated Ironmoulders of Scotland The Associated Iron Moulders of Scotland (AIMS) was a trade union representing foundry workers in Scotland. The union was created in 1831 as the Scottish Iron Moulders' Union. Its founder was James Dunn, a former cotton worker who had been blac ...

in August 1904. Committed to educating himself, he attended Andersonian College and the

Academy of Literature An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, and soon lectured for the

Plebs' League The Plebs' League was a British educational and political organisation which originated around a Marxist way of thinking in 1908 and was active until 1926. History Central to the formation of the League was Noah Ablett, a miner from the Rhondda who ...

Political career

Bell joined the

in 1900, then moved in 1903 to the

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

. However, within months, he joined with other dissident members to form the Glasgow Socialist Society, soon renamed the Socialist Labour Party (SLP). He became a leading figure in the party, but was expelled in 1907 for arguing that the SLP should not favour the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...

. He was able to rejoin the following year, convincing the majority of the party to form the Advocates of Industrial Unionism. Generally continuing to work in the metal trades, Bell briefly joined the

Singer Company Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac Singer, Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward Cabot Clark, Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing ma ...

to organise for the

Industrial Workers of Great Britain The Industrial Workers of Great Britain was a group which promoted industrial unionism in the early 20th century. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was founded in Chicago in 1905. It called for industrial unionism and aimed to organis ...

, but was sacked following the failure of a strike in 1911. In 1916, Bell was elected to the

Clyde Workers Committee The Clyde Workers Committee was formed to campaign against the Munitions Act. It was originally called the ''Labour Withholding Committee''. The leader of the CWC was Willie Gallacher, who was jailed under the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 to ...

, within which he promoted the SLP's policy of

industrial unionism Industrial unionism is a trade union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in ...

. In 1917, he led a successful national strike of engineers and

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

workers. Again prominent in 1919, he was elected President of the Associated Ironmoulders, Secretary of the SLP and editor of its newspaper, '' The Socialist''. He sat on a unity committee, intending to negotiate for a single

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

with leaders of the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of factional struggle, in 1916 the party's anti-war forces gained decisive control of the party and saw t ...

Workers Socialist Federation The Workers' Socialist Federation was a socialist political party in the United Kingdom, led by Sylvia Pankhurst. Under many different names, it gradually broadened its politics from a focus on women's suffrage to eventually become a left comm ...

and other socialist groups, but their proposals were repudiated by the SLP. Resigning as Secretary, he helped found the

Communist Unity Group The Communist Unity Group (CUG) was a small communist organisation in the United Kingdom. The origins of the group lay in the Socialist Labour Party (1903-1980), Socialist Labour Party (SLP). The SLP was a De Leonist group, but in support of the ...

, which became an original constituent of the

(CPGB). Employed by the CPGB, he was initially National Organiser. He then attended the Third World Congress of the

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...

, visiting

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

for five months, despite the British Government denying him a

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

. He was elected as the CPGB's representative to the Comintern's

Executive Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

. He returned to Soviet Russia for the 4th World Congress, remaining in the city as a CPGB representative and reporter, until the end of 1922. Bell held various posts within the party, including the editorship of ''

Communist Review The '' Communist Review '' is a defunct Australian magazine that was published in varying frequencies and formats from 1934 to 1966, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. History The ''Communist Review'' was first published on 13 March 1934, ...

''. In 1925, he was one of twelve CPGB leaders gaoled for

seditious libel Sedition and seditious libel were criminal offences under English common law, and are still criminal offences in Canada. Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection a ...

and incitement to

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...

, spending six months inside. The next few years were spent between Britain and Russia. In 1930, Bell became the Secretary of the

Friends of the Soviet Union The International Association of Friends of the Soviet Union was an organization formed on the initiative of the Communist International in 1927, with the purpose of coordinating solidarity efforts with the Soviet Union around the world. It grew out ...

, and in 1937 he wrote a history of the CPGB.

Death and legacy

Tom Bell died 19 April 1944 aged 61.

Footnotes

Sources consulted

Tom Bell: Radical Glasgow

External links

Marxists Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Tom 1882 births 1944 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain members Executive Committee of the Communist International Independent Labour Party politicians Moldmakers Scottish communists Trade unionists from Glasgow Social Democratic Federation members Socialist Labour Party (UK, 1903) members Scottish atheists