Honley Socialist Club
Honley Socialist Labour
Club
The village of Honley has a long tradition of radical politics dating back to when croppers, handloom weavers and other artisans began resisting the change to mechanisation and the Industrial revolution. This radical tradition would have contributed to the growth and development of the Socialist Club in the late nineteenth century.
The political scene in the early 19th century was perceived as undemocratic, favouring the interests of wealthy industrialists and manufacturers. The social changes forced on the working classes by industrialisation created a “dynamic popular culture of resistance” which offered alternative ideals, values and organisations. Around Colne valley in the 1780s a “radical weavers culture” thrived and in the weavers cottages one could find copies of the “Rights of Man” and “Age of Reason” alongside their hand looms. Men gathered in pubs and debated the politics of the day, the French Revolution, Ireland, the American War of Independence and political reform alongside their pint.
The introduction of the power looms saw a decline in standards of living for the weavers and there were several Luddite attacks in the Honley area but no local croppers were prosecuted. However following an attempted Radical uprising in 1817 a number of Honley men, mainly weavers and croppers were charged. One of these men George Taylor went on the run.
By the beginning of 1819 pressure had built up throughout the North through the poor economic conditions amongst textile weavers and spinners and due to the lack of suffrage in Northern England, the appeal of political radicalism was heightened greatly. Weavers who could have expected to earn 15s in 1803 by 1818 had had their wages cut to 4s 6d.
As a result August 1819 a great reform demonstration was held at St Peter’s Field, Manchester attended by tens of thousands amongst which were contingents from the Colne valley including Honley. Joyce Marlow described the event as
“The most numerous
meeting that ever took place in Britain.”
“The Peterloo Massacre.”
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| Skelmanthorpe Flag, Tolson Museum, Huddersfield. |
The Skelmanthorpe Flag or Banner was created after Peterloo to honour the victims and condemn the atrocity if that day. Although used and displayed at demonstrations and meetings it was carefully hidden between meetings and kept safe for generations, it now is displayed in the Tolson Museum, Huddersfield. It is to be one of the star exhibits in an exhibition in Spring 2019 at the People’s History Museum, Manchester commemorating the 200th anniversary of Peterloo.
Strong support for radical reform remained in the valley and Honley went on to form a radical political union for Parliamentary reform in the 1830s and supported Richard Carlisle and his Republican politics.
In 1838 “Owenite Socialists” rented a room in Berry Croft in a cottage cellar in which to hold their meetings. Named “Class 19” they were a satellite of the
“Number 6
Branch of the Association of All Classes of Nations in Huddersfield.”
"The cause of rationalism is progressing very
well in this locality."
Despite its popularity waning the memory of the struggle was still reflected on in the 1880s in a romanticised article in the Huddersfield Examiner in 1883. This painted the picture of the Honley of the turn of the century and had a description that could have been talking about the successor to the Socialist movement in Honley –
There was in Honley
many years ago and still is, a room which was known to the inhabitants as “Th’
Garrit” … a Cave of Abdullam, where gathered the originals of the district,
whether cobblers, given then as now somewhat to freethinking in matters
religious, or radicals, admirers of Robert Owen, who found the atmosphere of
the National Schools too close and stuffy, or, on occasion, lads and lasses who
wanted to dance and romp at Christmas time, but could not, as their betters,
meet at each other’s houses for this not very dreadful purpose … The phrase “He
goes to th’Garrit” thus became one of reproach in the mouths of good Church-going
villagers who could not write their own names and did not want to, but one of a
certain half mischievous and impish commendation in those of men who cared
little for the opinions of “the stick-in-the-muds”, and a great deal for the
education of their children and the “Rights of Man” … Weavers, farmers, dyers,
all who were not quite agreed that the world as it ran was the best world that
could be, met to devise improvements and point out where and what remedies
might be made.
The Colne Valley Constituency was formed in 1885 and the beginning of a national socialist organisation began to emerge at around the same time.
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| Ben Turner |
The 1890’s saw a revival of Socialism but with a different focus, no longer the resistance to industrialisation but rather the rights and needs of the workers.
By 1891 the population of Honley had fallen dramatically as people moved from the village to the towns with the rise of industrialisation. Wool and worsted manufacturing were the main industries and in 1889 the trade in Honley was busy. There was a weavers strike in Huddersfield in 1883 which resulted in a pay scale being agreed with employers. However this scale was very often ignored. Faster looms were introduced giving employers the excuse to lower wages or to replace male weavers with women, who could then be paid a lower rate. In finishing and spinning experienced older men were replaced with young men once again paid a lower rate. A meeting of the West Yorkshire Power Loom weavers Association was told by a Honley weaver that he was only receiving 14s 3d for a piece which should have given him 20s 2d if he had been paid to the agreed scale. By 1895 it was reported that weavers in Honley did not average even 18s a week even though the living wage was considered to be 26s. However despite the poor wages and conditions the workers in Honley did not experience the extreme poverty or widespread unemployment that other areas did. Therefore Socialism in the village did not arise out serious material distress, but rather from the need to constantly struggle to defend their working conditions, making trade unionism an important aspect of their Socialist principles.
Early in 1891 a group of local railway activists met in the cellar of a terraced house in Slaithwaite with the idea of setting up a socialist organisation and so the
“Social Democratic Club”
was founded in the Colne Valley following the lead of
one formed in Bradford a few weeks earlier.
By July that year Ben Turner
together with Allen Gee of the
weaver’s union and James Bartley of
the Bradford labour Union addressed a meeting in Slaithwaite and the Colne Valley
Labour Union (CVLU) was born. Its aims
were
“To form a Labour Union on the lines
of the Bradford Labour Union called the Colne valley Division Labour Union for
the purpose of securing independent labour representation on local bodies and
in Parliament.”
Despite the area being dominated by the Liberal Party the Socialist organisation soon began to take hold. It spread throughout the Colne Valley and wanted to appeal to the
“Liberal inclined workers,”
France Littlewood was the owner of a cloth finishing business at Grove Mill and the Reverend Briggs, who was the chairman of the Ratepayers Association. The following month Reverend Briggs made clear his opposition to the formation of a Labour Party. However France Littlewood was in favour and arranged a meeting in the Wesleyan Schoolroom the next month. At the meeting France Littlewood proposed the resolution
“That the time is now opportune to form a branch of the Labour Union
for the district.”
The CVLU agreed that a large meeting should be held in December 1892 which would be addressed by Tom Mann who regularly toured the constituency. The CVLU had corresponded with him previously and asked him to stand as the Labour Candidate for the Colne Valley. Huddersfield Chronicle 14 May 1892
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Opening inscription on Honley Labour Club
first membership book.
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It was from this meeting at Moorbottom Chapel, Honley, that the Honley Labour Club was created. A membership book for the club was published and the front piece was written by the club secretary, Walter Swallow which says
“May success
crown its efforts and leave the world a little better than they found it.”
France Littlewood continued to be a prominent part of the club and he was a familiar sight at all the Socialist events in the district. France was the first president of the Honley club and vice president of CVLU in 1892, going on to be the treasurer of the election fund in 1893. He also went on to represent the CVLU and the founding of the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in Bradford in 1893. The Honley Mutual Improvement Society held a mock election in 1893 where France represented the Socialists and in reply to a remark from Reverend Briggs (Liberal representative) he said
“he would be prepared to support all measures which
had for their object the alleviation of poverty and the amelioration of the
condition of the masses of the people.”
France gave a lecture to the same society in December that year on the subject of
“Co-Operation”
in which he
spoke of the efforts of Robert Owen and his influence on the legislation of the
period, including Employer’s Liability Acts, Mine Regulation Acts, Factory
Acts, Artisan dwellings Act and many more concerned with the improvement of
conditions for the working classes. Huddersfield
Daily Examiner 25 November 1893 |
| Tom Mann |
Tom Mann continued to be a regular speaker in the area and he addressed a crowd of around a thousand people at an open air meeting in a field belonging to the Co Operative Society in 1893. In this campaign Mann’s emphasis was more on the organisation of trade unions and he produced a leaflet
“Appeal to the
Yorkshire Textile Workers.”
The Labour Party also promoted trade unionism and at an open air meeting, visiting speaker, Fred Hammil, urged them to combine socialism and trade unionism and fight for
“all the results of their labour.”
Tom Mann became the secretary of the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in 1894 and in a pamphlet entitled “What the ILP is driving at” referring to both the ILP and the Marxist SDF, he stated
“the
objective of the two organisations is identical. It is the socialisation
of the means of production, distribution and exchange, to be controlled by a
democratic state in the interests of the community and the complete
emancipation of labour from the domination of capitalism and landlordism and
social and economic equality between the sexes.”
CVLU, minutes 20th March 1894
Political meetings across the valley were commonplace at that time and in February 1894 Tom Mann addressed a crowd of 900 people in Delph on the subject of “Labour Politics.”
The Honley Labour Club supported Tom Mann, and his 1895 election campaign, “energetically” and made him an honorary member of the club. He fought the election on the ILP programme of relief work for the unemployed, an 8 hour day, state pensions for those over 50, and payment of MPs. Although he was unsuccessful coming in third, he attained 1245 votes, about 13%, against the Liberal Sir James Kitson who went on to retain his seat.
Despite the defeat socialist activity continued and Honley hosted other political visitors such as John Bruce Glasier in 1897 and continued with a programme of political lectures. These lectures at the club in the 1890s included J. Fletcher of the Huddersfield Trades Council speaking on “The History of Trade unions” and Mrs Marland of the Women’s Trade Union League on “Trade Unionism and Co Operation.” The co-founder of the club, Ben Orcherton, represented Honley at the Weaver’s Association meeting in Huddersfield in 1890.
A series of lectures were held in the Co Operative Hall in one day under the auspices of the club in 1895. November saw Reverend Fred Brocklehurst deliver a talk on “Land Nationalisation” about the aspects of land owning and land monopoly at that time. Others in December were given by Reverend H. Bodell Smith on the “Socialist Gospel” and “Socialism and Christianity” given by Walter Swallow. There were large audiences at the lectures showing the feeling for subject and it was reported that they
“listened with great attention.”
The club began to struggle for numbers towards the end of the century, by 1896 the membership had fallen from 118 to 111 with 26 resignations and in 1897 there were only 79 members. This was the trend in the Labour Party both locally and nationally where membership fell by around a third. By 1898 the CVLU wrote to Honley concerned about its absence from executive meetings and by 1899 another 19 resignations had decreased membership to 56. This fell again the following year to 39. There were a variety of reasons for the fall in popularity of Socialism at the time. Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1887, her death in 1901 and the Boer War all contributed to an upsurge in patriotism and nationalism which was not very conducive to Socialist ideas. Even Tom Mann left the country, taking residence in Australia where he became a trade union organiser.
Due to the decline of the member branches the CVLU underwent reorganisation to try and remedy the situation. Honley Labour Club however did not recover immediately and the membership book ends in 1900. Only around 15 people kept the spirit of Socialism going in the village assisted by another visit from leading socialist John Bruce Glasier in 1903. CVLU Minutes June 1903
Socialism in the Colne Valley was promoted by the publication of
“The Worker”
“direct
our fellow citizens to the Rising Sun of Socialism.”
The Worker 21 July 1905
The paper seems to have had some effect and a wave of enthusiasm hit the Honley Labour Club when membership increased form 13 members to 70 in July 1906 when the membership records resumed and by 1907 membership had risen again to 185!
Arthur Curnock of Honley Labour Club bought shares in “The Worker” in 1907 and the club held a garden tea party in 1912 to raise funds for the paper as well as sending delegates to shareholder meetings.
1907 saw Victor Grayson emerge as the parliamentary candidate and he set the valley ablaze with socialist fervour. He was young and handsome and a very charismatic speaker attracting large audiences to his meetings. Huge crowds attended his open air meetings throughout the Colne Valley with one observer noting that
“he seemed so enthusiastic about everything…… it was infectious. People
just went haywire. They went mad at his
meetings, they could grip them.”
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| Victor Grayson |
“I am a socialist and believe there can be no freedom or
security for the working classes while the Land and Means of production are
owned and controlled by a small privileged class.”
“ of all the
recent stirring scenes in the Colne valley, Honley has been the centre and the
stronghold.”
The hope of the people was portrayed as one local socialist declared
“They’ll perhaps do a little bit more for the working classes now, and
that is the only way they can stop Socialism.”
“lively, mirth loving throngs kept up singing in the streets.”
The
Worker 26 July 1907; Leeds Mercury
20 July 1907
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| Philip Snowden opening new club on New Street. |
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| Philip Snowden |
Philip Snowden, although a gaunt figure, was a powerful speaker and had been to Honley before, but never with a crowd the size that it was on that occasion. When he addressed them he praised the club for following temperance rules and not selling alcohol saying
“he deplored the
introduction of drink into a club as he had seen no good come of it. He hoped
that the Club would be the centre of educational work in political and social
questions.”
Next Victor Grayson spoke also outlining the role he considered the club should take saying
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| Victor Grayson, MP for Colne Valley. |
“You can make this club a matter of historic
importance if you like. You can make it a place where men and women are
developed to carry our religion into all parts. You can make it a home of
fellowship based on nothing artificial but on a joint conviction of faith … The
war which they, as Socialists, were carrying on was against the ghastly forms
of social evils and disease.”
The Worker 7 September 1907
France Littlewood joked that they could not afford a gold key to open the door as they had spent all the “brass” on Victor’s election! After this Snowden proceeded to open the door followed by
“hearty
singing of the Red Flag.”
One of the aims of the club was to provide education both political and self-improvement and after the opening of the new premises a series of eighty lectures were held on a variety of topics from “The Basis of Industry,” “Competition versus Monopoly,” “Class Struggle” and “France Littlewood on Dust.” A reading room with a library containing books, Socialist journals and newspapers of the day was accumulated. There was an Adult School movement which held classes in Honley and which the Socialists supported.
It is estimated that around 10% of Honley’s population were regularly involved in the club. In addition to this there were sympathisers and Socialists who were not members that must have totalled hundreds. Events such as the annual demonstration, May Day parade and other meetings and events drew crowds of thousands. The club was the focus of social, educational and cultural life for its members in much the same way that a religious meeting house would. Involving all sections of Honley’s working class community in its activities. Membership of the club at its height in 1908 stood at 216 male members which added together with women and children would have totalled somewhere in the region of 500 people involved with the club. It was at this time that the club changed its name from Honley Labour Club to Honley Socialist Club. Mrs Jagger in her “History of Honley” describes the members of the club as
“very enthusiastic in
their cause.”
Honley Socialist Club membership book; The Worker 4 Jul 1908; 3 Oct
1908, Mary Jagger, History of Honley.
Although only men are recorded as members in 1911 “The Worker” referred to there being 70 women members or “women comrades.” It is not known whether they had the same rights and votes as the men but their activities were separate and they had their own secretary. However as with all other clubs of the time their role was essential to the club’s success. The new club could not have been obtained without their fundraising efforts and organisation as can be seen with clubs all around the area. Sewing clubs were formed to create good for sale, teas and socials with entertainments all brought in much needed funds for the club or election funds. One such fundraising event was held to raise money to buy a piano. The women also catered for the many events, providing meals for hundreds of people when the annual demonstration took place. Some of this division of labour between male and female was a reflection of the Victorian values and beliefs that a womens place was in the home.
However this practical role did not exclude women from politics or political thought. The women’s suffrage movement meant that votes for women could not be ignored and the women of Honley attended political meetings and lectures. One in 1906 was given by Mrs Mitchell of Ashton who spoke on
“Women’s Suffrage.”
The men of
the club seemed to have supported the women as it was they who moved the vote
of sympathy
“for the women in the fight they were making for political
freedom.”
Prior to his election victory Victor Grayson had said in reply to a question about women that
“If woman was made an outlaw she
had the right to rebel.”
“abolition of sex ties”
“are fighting not only for the
vote… they are fighting for the freedom of their children, the freedom of the
men, the freedom of their own class.”
In 1908 at a socialist demonstration in Honley, France Littlewood pointed out the number of women present and congratulated the women involved at the womens suffrage demonstration in Hyde Park, London in June that year -
“Women’s Sunday”
W. C. Anderson speaker at the rally stated
“Socialism brought a message for women as well as men. Every Socialist
question was a woman’s question as well as a man’s.”
The Worker 2 November, 15 & 28 December 1907, 1 January 1909, 4
July 1908, 5 May 1911.
As can be seem from the opening
ceremony of the club in 1907 children were also involved in the life of the
club and its politics and were recognised as the future of the Socialist movement. In 1907 around 120
boys and girls from Honley were packed into the large billiard room of the club
to be “entertained” by the socialist Reverend F. R. Swan, who later became leader of the Brotherhood Church in
London. The Red Flag was sung with great
enthusiasm and the Socialist Ten Commandments recited several times over. They children were asked to give an example
of courage to which a boy shouted “a Socialist” while a girl shouted “A
suffragette.” It became the tradition
that the children led the annual Honley Socialist Demonstration wearing
rosettes and sashes and carrying banners with appropriate socialist mottoes.
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Socialist Sunday School advert postcard
from the Young Socialist Magazine.
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There was also a very active Socialist Sunday
School which was founded in Honley in May 1918 although the children were aware
of its teachings since 1907 due to the Reverend Swann. The Socialist Sunday School movement (SSS) had
been set in motion in 1895 as a response to the decrease of local Labour
Churches. Its main emphasis was on
capturing the minds of children and young people while
“their minds and
susceptibilities are plastic and impressionable.”
It was only from around 1906
that the Socialist Sunday School movement took hold in the Huddersfield area.
At children’s day at one of the bazaars for raising funds for the building, Nellie Jubb declared in her opening speech that
“Our object is a worthy one. It is to help to
build a new club for our fathers and mothers and it is our duty as children to
help in this business because when we grow up we shall be able to carry on the
work they are doing now.”
The Worker 2 May 1910
Victor Grayson’s success fuelled the rising membership at the club and saw it outgrowing its premises. Negotiations began to purchase “Enfield” on Jagger Lane as new club premises before their lease on the New Street site ran out.
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| Enfield, former home of Lupton Littlewood. |
Enfield, had formerly been a private house and residence of Lupton Littlewood, a woollen manufacturer. Negotiations were completed in November 1910 when the building was bought for £640 much of which was raised by subscriptions and loans from around 100 shareholders. The building comprised of two cottages and gardens which covered an area of about 1089 square yards. Members of the club worked voluntarily to convert the building and grounds. Committees were formed for gardening and decoration and these directed proceedings. The gardens, greenhouse, summer house and conservatory were all refurbished or build for members use. A billiard room was created in the cellar, a ground floor smoke room, ladies sewing room, committee room, bar, scullery and steward’s living room were created on the ground floor. Upstairs a concert room, reading room, card room, box room and stewards living quarters could be found. The premises were lit by electricity with hot water provided by gas and the members could have a hot bath for 2d.
The move from the club was celebrated on the 15th April 1911 by a
“member’s
tea.”
This was followed a fortnight
later by an
“at home”
hosted by the lady members in aid of the sewing
fund. This fund was to provide materials
which were then made into goods for sale at the planned Christmas Bazaar where
it was hoped that enough would be raised to pay off the remaining debt on the
club. Up to that point £400 had been
provided by members, with a further £200 raised by different functions. Another £200 needed to be raised and Thomas Temple Hirst designed and made a
fund level indicator in the shape of a monkey climbing a tree to chart the
total up to £800. The Worker had no
doubt when it stated that Honley had the best Socialist club in the
district. France Littlewood was club treasurer at that point and donated
pictures which were framed and displayed. 
The official opening was on a rainy day in August that year and was well attended with a procession through the village led by Milnsbridge Socialist Brass Band. This was followed by tea in Moorbottom School where 600 adults and 160 children sat down to eat. The evening saw everyone gather in a nearby field for a meeting and gala with games such as throwing balls at a cut out of Lloyd George’s head at three for a penny! The theme for the speeches was on Socialist Unity after a very unsettled time for the movement. Arthur Dawson from Huddersfield who was a Marxist said in his address that
“It was time the working class banded together
into one organisation. Not by social reform but by social revolution was the
only way out…”
Victor Grayson reiterated this theme stating
“That the club was not
an exfoliation, but it had grown up around their own personalities. He hoped
they would make it a centre of revolutionary activity.”
Strangely France Littlewood did not attend the event being away on holiday apparently, although we may presume that he intended to distance himself from Victor Grayson’s
“brand of
revolutionary Socialism”
expressed in his speeches.
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| Trust Deed |
Membership after the event was again boosted
from 172 to 192 by the end of that year, which is not counting women members.
The trust deed of the club registered in May 1912 shows the club trustees as France Littlewood; Harry Lee, pattern
weaver of Thirstin Road; John Whitehead,
cloth presser, Brooke Fold; Edwin
Charlesworth, twister-in, Magbridge; George
Sheard, overlooker, Coop Terrace and Fred
Jubb, powerloom tuner, Thirstin. The
aims of the club remained as before
“the propagation of the political and
social views of the Labour and Socialist parties and for social purposes
connected therewith.”
It remained
alcohol free sticking with the strong temperance principles it had had since
its beginning and alcohol was not sold in the club until after the Second World
War. The Worker 22 April, 6 May, 12 August 1911, Honley Socialist Club Trust
deeds.
Socialist life was much more than just
political meetings and education. There
was a strong musical tradition in the Colne valley which was eagerly exploited
with the formation of Socialist Choirs and a Socialist Brass Band in
Milnsbridge. The annual demonstration
and procession became more of a gala day with the brass bands and choirs,
alongside games and other entertainments throughout the day. Social events and teas were held during the
winter months again with the bands and choirs taking a part. At the Honley
Labour Clubs New Year’s Eve tea the Milnsbridge Socialist Brass band
entertained. They began with an exciting
performance of England Arise right outside of the Liberal Club before marching
off to the strains of the Marseillaise!! Honley had its own Socialist
Choir conducted by W. A. Burhouse,
who was also a noted soloist. The choir
made their debut at the New Year’s Eve event too. The choir, under the direction of France Littlewood, performed not only
at club events but in the Huddersfield ILP premises and went on to win the
choir prize at Honley Carnival in 1914. Other entertainments were often by
talented club members, solo singers, violinists or pianists. The
Honley Socialist Choir was present when Victor
Grayson visited Honley on his tour of the Colne Valley in January 1914 they
provided the entertainment for the meeting by singing a selection of music
throughout the evening. It was often the case that dancing accompanied both
outdoor events and club social occasions. The Worker
20 February, 26 June, 20 January 1912, 1 August 1914, Huddersfield
Daily Examiner 15 January 1914
Other recreational activities such as whist and billiards took place during the year, both in the club and in matches against other clubs. Socials were often used to raise funds for particular causes and projects. A social held on Boxing Day 1913 was for funds for the newly created Clarion Ramblers Group which went on long hikes over the moorlands. As cycling became more popular and affordable to working class men and women The Clarion Cycling Club was formed. Inspired by the Clarion socialist newspaper this network of clubs was closely allied with the ILP. Their members combined cycling with spreading socialist propaganda, and Honley members were no exception, such as when nine of them went on a tour of the Isle of Skye in 1908. Huddersfield Clarion Cycling Club boasted 120 members in 1906.
The anarchist movement and Huddersfield.
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| E J B Allen |
Ernest
John Bartlett Allen joined the Honley
Socialist Club in 1908 maybe as he recognised it as a “fertile ground” for his
ideas. He formed the Industrial League in 1908 and promoted revolutionary
unionism in Huddersfield through his publication of a pamphlet on the subject. Allen
supported industrial unionism and syndicalism, and Huddersfield developed a
syndicalist tradition. Others who
supported and promoted these views were Fred
Shaw, a member of the British Socialist Party and a local engineer plus
visitors Tom Mann and Guy Bowman. Honley Socialist Club was a frequent venue
for syndicalist meetings. One of the
club members was George Henry Greensmith
who was an anarchist and spoke at many of the meetings. He worked as a master baker and was a member of the Bakers and
Confectioners’ Union and was its representative on the local trade’s council.
He spoke at Honley Socialist Club on many occasions leading discussions on
Industrial Unionism and speaking on
“The Necessity of Revolution”
followed by
"How to Realise the Socialist Commonwealth”
in 1908. Being sympathetic to syndicalism, he chaired
a number of open air meetings given by Allen at the Market Cross in 1909.
On 19 March 1911 the fortieth anniversary of the
“Paris Commune” was celebrated in the large room at the club Ernest John Bartlett
Allen addressed
the gathering on the
“tragic history of this first attempt to establish a
workers state.”
Allen was very
successful during his time at the Honley club and to have such a notable
speaker as one of its members must have made a considerable impact on the club.
It was during the revolutionary
fervour caused by the Russian Revolution that the Socialist Sunday School in
Honley was opened in 1918. The
superintendent of the Huddersfield SSS led the Honley children in reciting the
Socialist Ten Commandments.
Wilf Whiteley brought greetings from
York and Lockwood Socialist Sunday Schools and gave a talk on
“Plants, seeds and functions of
growth.”
The following year Francis
Sowerby organised the annual Yorkshire area SSS demonstration to be held at
Honley.
“The sun shone and banners waved
and the coloured dresses of the girls and women gave sparkle to the
scene.”
A former conscientious objector, Arthur Gardiner, was first to speak at
the event. He said
“With the seeds of social revolution now being sown
in the Far East the new world was being born. It was being brought into
existence amid bloodshed and pain and it was for the workers who had a historic
mission to fulfil, to join in completing the transformation to bring this
country into line with others. He was not an advocate of violent or bloody
revolution; the revolution would take place no matter how it was performed…”
When Wilf
Whiteley spoke to the crowd he referred to the pupils of the SSS
“The last
speaker had closed on a note of revolution. Revolution was here in front of
them, the revolution in embryo.”
The
Worker 10 June 1918 & 28 June 1919
Honley Socialist Club and WW1
World War One split the socialist
movement between pro war and internationalism and this could be seen in
Huddersfield with the clash between George
Henry Greensmith and Horatio Burnet
Flanders.
At the outbreak of war Greensmith chaired an
anti-militarist meeting where Guy Bowman
spoke. He also attended an anarchist conference in Newcastle and spoke at a
public meeting alongside fellow anarchists Will Lawther and Walter Ponder. However
when war broke out he reneged on his anti-militarist position and supported the
Huddersfield Workers Own Recruiting Committee (HWORC). In 1915 he was employed by the war office as
recruiting agent in Huddersfield operating against the local anti-war
sentiment.
Flanders had been an anarchist communist prior to
the war, campaigning on anti-militarist principles. Flanders gave an anti-war speech in
Huddersfield in June 1915 entitled
“Nationalism and Internationalism.”
Greensmith replied with a pro war speech
entitled “Anarchism and War”, which The Worker reported with the heading “A Pro
War Anarchist.” He also wrote pro war
letters to the Worker that appeared in September 1915. Greensmith had dropped out of public life by
the end of the year. It is unknown
whether he continued to be a member of the Honley Club.
In November 1915, George Dyson of Honley Citizens Defence League held a meeting at the club to appeal for recruits
“Your King and Country need you!”
“but on a
more humane subject.”
“The Power of the Workers of
the World,”
Conscription was introduced in 1916
and several Honley Socialists went to jail rather than compromise their
socialist principles by supporting war between Imperialist powers.
Conscientious objectors had to apply to a local tribunal for exemption from
military service. If this was refused
they then had a right to an appeal tribunal.
If the exemption was not upheld at appeal and they did not withdraw
their objection they were liable to be arrested and imprisoned in either
military or civilian jails.
Four conscientious objectors, all
socialists, appeared before the Honley tribunal and were questioned about their
beliefs and in particular how they could reconcile these with continuing to be
employed in jobs that backed to the war effort.
Twenty year old weaver Beaumont
Sykes stated that he objected to
weaving the khaki cloth used for military uniforms.
Another, 25 year old
Francis Henry Sowerby, member of the
Club, the ILP, the No Conscription Fellowship and the Wesleyan Reform Sunday
School, and a yarn room assistant, stated
that
“when it is a question of the military machine, if
there were no other means of existence than by joining the army, I should be a
pauper first.”
The third worked as a twister in and said he had always been opposed to
war and called on his former Sunday school teacher to confirm that these were
his long held beliefs.
The final objector, Arthur Shaw
of Honley, a quarry foreman, refused to answer the tribunal’s hypothetical
questions and quoted one of the Socialist Sunday School’s precepts
“Do not
think that he who loves his own country must hate and despise other nations, or
wish for war, which is a remnant of barbarism.”
All had to go to appeal and lost their case. Arthur
Shaw repeated the precept and asserted that
“he had no intention of going
to join the colours until the police came to fetch him.”
Francis Sowerby turned to the public gallery and said
“I can assure
everyone here that I will not give way even if it means death on
principle.”
Later when he was arrested he quoted the famous Burns quote at the
magistrates,
“Man’s inhumanity to man, makes countless thousands mourn.”
Beaumont
Sykes continued to refuse to report to the colours until the police came
for him. He ended up in Dartmoor jail
along with fellow Club member Arthur
Hirst, a pattern weaver. When Hirst
was arrested he gave the explanation to the police that he “was not a fighting
man.” At Hirst’s tribunal he had made the following statement
“On religious and
moral grounds I cannot assume the responsibility of taking the life of any man,
the life that has come to him through the source of all life, nor can I decide
for another the issues of life and death, and since the military machine
involves the wholesale slaughter of mankind I cannot assist its functions in
any way.”
On replying to further questions about his work he said that he had
not
“woven any patterns for khaki cloth.”
When asked if he would object to weave a loom with khaki warp in it he
said
“I object to anything that is involved in the military machine.”
Sykes was fined 40s to be deducted from his military pay as was Fred Swallow whose reply was
“I don’t
intend having any military pay.”
Others conscripted into service, like 20 year old Norris Goldthorpe, Honley’s first conscript, simply didn’t turn up
to report. When the police turned up to
arrest him he claimed that he thought his work place had applied to exempt
him. His father went on to say that if
that was not the case then he would apply for his exemption as he needed him on
the farm. As for those 48 Honley men
that were exempted from service in 1916 concerns were raised that they were not
fulfilling the conditions of their exemption because they were not drilling
local volunteers.
Another Honley Socialist Club member and conscientious
objector was Mark Brooke. His name
alongside that of his brother Hamlet appears in the 1895 membership book. Although
his brother hamlet did enlist to serve in the Royal Garrison Artillery, Mark
did not. He was not called up until 1918 when he would have been around 40. Mark
refused to enlist and was held for court martial where he was sentenced to six
months hard labour before being transferred to Margate and the Wormwood
Scrubs. He did agree to transfer on to
Class W Army Reserve on the condition that he would be doing work of National
importance on a scheme by the Bryce Committee and was moved to Scotland.
More inventive methods of avoiding conscription were employed by
eighteen year old Horace Hampshire. When called up for his medical examination he
drank an unknown substance and smoked all the way to the exam office which
pushed his heart rate up incredibly high.
His father, also a staunch socialist, had a word with the “Labour” man
on the tribunal and the result was that Horace was exempt on the grounds of ill
health and the support that he gave to his parents. Horace was ordered to do home guard duty
though but after attending only twice he sneaked away and never went again!
When questioned he claimed that he was growing potatoes for the war effort
instead! Club membership during the war years fell from 128 in 1914 to 100 in
1915 remaining at that level until after the war. There are a number of names in the club
membership book during the war years with no subs recorded against them. Some
were the conscientious objectors mentioned before and others were conscripts
who reported for service, whether with reluctance or not. Huddersfield Daily Examiner 6 March, 20 June & 11 July 1916, the
Worker 1 April, 15 July 1916; Horace Hampshire, Honley 26 Sept 1983.
Post war
In 1919 the club invited John
MacLean, a leading Scottish Marxist who had been jailed for his opposition
to the war, on an eight day speaking tour of the area. This tour included two
meetings at Honley. The posters
advertising the event had the banner heading
“Workers, Rally round this great
fighter.”
A massive crowd gathered to
hear him speak in the Market Place in Honley on 26th May and the 1st
June 1919 on the theme that only revolution could prevent another war. The British Socialist Party paper The Call
reported a
“record meeting”
at Honley and attempts were made across the Colne
valley to establish
“Workers Committees and independent educational classes in
conjunction with the Central Labour College in Yorkshire.”
MacLean described
Honley as
“the fighting centre of the Colne valley Division.”
Arthur MacManus of the Socialist Labour
Party, another prominent Scottish Marxist addressed the clubs annual meeting later
that year. He said it was their
“duty to organise solidly, not with the purpose
of running a strike, but for the purpose of revolution!”
Honley Socialist Club Minute Book 27 August 1919.
Membership of the club rose after the war from 100 to 141 in 1919 coinciding with the wave revolutionary feeling. However numbers dropped in 1921 back down to 102.
In 1922 the club resolved to back candidates from the Labour Party in the general election and Phillip Snowden was victorious in winning the seat for Colne Valley. The Primitive Schoolroom was the scene of an “at home” to celebrate and welcome Snowden and his wife to Honley in January 1923. The rise of the Labour Party and Snowdon’s success seemed to have revived club membership with 136 members being reported in 1923 rising to 155 in 1925 and the year of the first Labour government. However the year of the general strike saw 21 resignations with just 119 members listed in 1927 when the first membership book closed. Men who had long associations with the club such as Arthur Curnock, John Whitehead and B.A. Noble, as well as some of the conscientious objectors like Fred Swallow, Francis Sowerby and Beaumont Sykes continued to be actively involved.
With the change in Labour government policies and Phillip Snowden’s defection from the Labour Party in 1931 people became disillusioned and over the years the club gradually changed from a political to a social club.
Whatever its political allegiances over more recent years the club survived and celebrated its centenary year in 1992.
In 2015 the club was in difficulties and wanted to sell off land for development to avoid going into administration. There was a 550 square metre plot of land to the rear of the club and club officials applied to Kirklees Council for planning permission to develop the land for housing. It was hoped that the land could then be sold to a housing developer and this would bring in a much needed supply of cash. The club had been put into administration on 17 November but with the support of members and club officials reopened in December 2015. Examiner Live 9 April 2016
References -
Honley Socialist Club Centenary 1992.
Honley Then and Now by Peter Bray and Honley Civic Society.
https://www.independentlabour.org.uk/2011/07/07/socialism-in-the-valley/
Thanks to Alan Brooke, local historian, for his research and work on local political clubs and his website -
https://undergroundhistories.wordpress.com/honley-socialist-club/
https://undergroundhistories.wordpress.com/the-white-feather-the-first-great-imperialist-war/
https://undergroundhistories.wordpress.com/the-luddite-legacy/
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/housing-plan-could-lifeline-honley-11157765
https://huddersfield.exposed/wiki/The_History_of_Honley_(1914)_-_Chapter_XII
https://undergroundhistories.wordpress.com/honley-socialist-club/
https://undergroundhistories.wordpress.com/the-white-feather-the-first-great-imperialist-war/
https://undergroundhistories.wordpress.com/the-luddite-legacy/
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/housing-plan-could-lifeline-honley-11157765
https://huddersfield.exposed/wiki/The_History_of_Honley_(1914)_-_Chapter_XII
