Dewsbury Gladstone Liberal Club

Gladstone Liberal Club, Boothroyd Lane, Dewsbury.

1872 saw the inauguration of a new Liberal club for Dewsbury which was opened by Mr John Bates, who was the president of the club and local councillor,  Lord Mayor of Dewsbury and again in 1879 .  The opening of the club had a large attendance, including around 30 of the leading Liberals of the area.   It was opened with the aim of disseminating the principles of Liberalism.  

John Simon, MP

There was a “knife and fork” tea held in the afternoon at the Royal Hotel, followed by a public meeting in evening at the Theatre Royal under the Presidency of John Bates.  Amongst those attending and speaking at the opening were local MPs John Simon and Alderman Carter.  They expressed their “gratification” at the formation of a Liberal Club in Dewsbury and urged all “reformers” in the area to join the club as a political organisation which supported Liberal principles and the interests of the Liberal Party. Carter stated that he felt that the club might prove to be a 

“fairly Radical club!”  

The following week a meeting was held in club rooms inviting anyone interested in joining the club to come along.  The subscription for the year was to be 

“One shilling and upwards”. 

Manchester Times; Leeds Times; Dewsbury Reporter; 19 October 1872.  

Edward Stanhope, MP

Earlier in the year the club had passed a resolution which was published and sent to the MP for the Southern Division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Edward Stanhope.  The resolution condemned the first vote made by Stanhope in the House of Commons which had been in favour of

 “the barbarous practice of employing female children, under the age of 16, in colliery work. " 

Dewsbury Reporter 20 July 1872.

In 1874 the club objected again to the stand that the Tory candidate for Southern Division of the West Riding of Yorkshire had taken 

“That we, the Dewsbury Liberal Club, record our abhorrence of the first vote given by Mr Stanhope in the House of Commons, which was in favour of the barbarous practice of employing female children under sixteen years of age in colliery works”  

Sheffield and Rotherham Independent 7 February 1874

In 1889 at the annual meeting of the “Gladstone Liberal” club at the Boothroyd Lane premises James Farnhill, the secretary, reported that rooms had undergone alterations and two billiards boards had been acquired.  A loan had been acquired from a Mr Brooke of £50 which had enabled the club to buy the tables.  It was noted that membership had fallen during the summer and club finances were an income of £165 3s 10 ½ d, expenditure of £144 9s 4 ½ d, balance of £26 10s 4 ½d.  Leeds Times 12 October 1889.

The club had limited space for its main aim of educating and training people and so lectures were held in other suitable local buildings.  In November 1889 one such, meeting was held in the Providence Chapel, on Thornton Street, Dewsbury. The lecture was  given by Mr Wormald Waring on 

“Reasons for disestablishment and Disendowment of the English Church” 

 Leeds Times 30 November 1889

When the Dewsbury Gladstone Liberal Club held its annual meeting in 1894, Mr A. Eastwood, the then president, reported that the club was flourishing and that debt on the club building had been reduced.  They were looking forward to being able to build a larger more “commodious” clubhouse.  The members agreed to subscribe two guineas towards a testimonial for William E. Gladstone which was to be an addition to the Hawarden Library.  A deputation from the club along with other local clubs visited William Gladstone in April 1895 to present him with this gift.  It was a “handsome oak cabinet” which contained 100 volumes of choice works for the library at his home at Hawarden in recognition of his services to Liberalism and the country as a whole.  Leeds Mercury 3 October 1894; Manchester Evening News, 13 April 1895

The envisaged new club house was built on Boothroyd Lane and opened in 1897 as a replacement for the smaller, one storey brick building.  It was designed by D and W Thornton of Dewsbury & Wakefield and named Gladstone Liberal Club Dewsbury.   

Mark Oldroyd, MP, opened the new club which was described as a 

“large and commodious erection of stone”.  

As well as being 

“a very marked advance, architecturally on most other buildings in the neighbourhood.” 

The members  were described as being “almost all working men” and so not in a position to give large amounts of money to defray the remaining debt of the club which required a further £1100 to remove the debt on the building and to provide furnishings for it.  When the club presented Mark Oldroyd with a golden key which opened the main door of the building, his response was to suggest that they would have been better spending the money on reducing their debt!  He went on to promise a donation of £20 and another of £30 if they made an “immediate effort” to clear of part of the debt by raising £120 in subscriptions.  Leeds Times 27 March 1897

At the annual meeting of the Gladstone Liberal Club in October 1901 Mr Eastwood was elected as President.  The financial report was stated as being “favourable” but no figures were given for finances or membership so it is unknown whether the debt from 1897 had been paid by this time. However the following year the finances were stated, with assets exceeding liabilities by £425 13s 7d.  They also stated that they planned to hold a variety of lectures during the winter on political topics.  Leeds Mercury 15 October 1901 & 11 October 1902.

Water Runciman, MP, 1905

Walter Runciman, MP visited the club on several occasions to address the members.  One of these was held in the large hall at the club in November 1905 when he addressed the gathering on “Labour legislation” and was awarded a vote of confidence by the membership.  He alluded to statements made by Boyd Carpenter, the Conservative party candidate saying that what Mr Carpenter believed was not easy to understand and that he was a 

“wobbler and wobblers were not wanted in public life!” 

The club praised Runciman for his straightforward and consistent manner. Leeds Mercury 9 November 1905

The club hosted a billiards match between the Yorkshire professional champion, G. Nelson and the local club champion, J. W. Reynolds.  Nelson won the match by 122 points, the final scores being Nelson 700, Reynolds 678.  Yorkshire Post 27 March 1907

The Gladstone Club advertised for a steward and stewardess in 1916 and again in 1927 and 1937.  Offering a weekly wage of 37s 6d in 1916 which rose to £4 in 1927 and remained the same in 1937, but no house.  By 1937 the club was also asking for a “fidelity bond” as security. The position was filled quickly in 1927 and the committee thanked all applicants in a further advert a few weeks later. However the steward engaged in 1937 obviously did not stay too long in the post as another advert appeared in October 1938 with a now increased wage of £4 5s!    Leeds Mercury 19 February 1916 & Yorkshire Post 4 June 1927, 22 July 1937 & 28 October 1938.

The club showed itself to be open to different views when it invited the prospective Conservative candidate, J. W. W. Shuttleworth, to speak to members in January 1929 on the question of “Safeguarding”.  This being the safeguarding of industries and therefore jobs at the time, a subject that would have been close to many hearts during the era of the depression, lack of job security and high unemployment. He thanked the members of the club for inviting him when he knew that their political views were ostensibly opposed to his own.  Yorkshire Post 15 January 1929.