The significant and sometimes controversial figure, Will Crooks, who became the Chairman of the Popular Board of Guardians and a leading pioneer of the trade union and labour movement, has been overlooked by modern historians. Here Paul Tyler presents a groundbreaking political biography of a significant Labour figure at both a local and national level and an important reinterpretation of the early trade union and labour movement from the 1880s to the 1920s.
Author(s): Paul Tyler
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 256
Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgements......Page 8
Abbreviations......Page 11
Introduction......Page 14
Part One: Local Activist and Labour Pioneer 1852-1907......Page 28
1 Will Crooks of Poplar......Page 30
2 Guardian of the Poor......Page 54
3 Unemployment and the Poor Law......Page 80
4 Woolwich and Independent Labour Representation......Page 113
Part Two: Labour Pioneer and Member of Parliament 1903-1921......Page 137
5 Member for Woolwich......Page 138
6 Role in Parliament and the General Elections of 1910......Page 166
7 Returns to the Parliamentary Fray......Page 188
8 War and Peace......Page 207
References and Notes......Page 238
Bibliography......Page 274
Index......Page 286
