George Haw
From Workhouse to Westminster
The Life Story of Will Crooks, M.P
Published by Good Press, 2021
EAN 4064066186807
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I EARLIEST YEARS IN A ONE-ROOMED HOME
CHAPTER II AS A CHILD IN THE WORKHOUSE
CHAPTER III SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS
CHAPTER IV ROUND THE HAUNTS OF HIS BOYHOOD
CHAPTER V IN TRAINING FOR A CRAFTSMAN
CHAPTER VI TRAMPING THE COUNTRY FOR WORK
CHAPTER VII ONE OF LONDON'S UNEMPLOYED
CHAPTER VIII THE COLLEGE AT THE DOCK GATES
CHAPTER IX THE COLLEGE AT THE DOCK GATES
CHAPTER X A LABOUR MEMBER'S WAGES
CHAPTER XI ON THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL
CHAPTER XII TWO OF HIS MONUMENTS
CHAPTER XIII THE TASK OF HIS LIFE BEGINS
CHAPTER XIV THE MAN WHO FED THE POOR
CHAPTER XV TURNING WORKHOUSE CHILDREN INTO USEFUL CITIZENS
CHAPTER XVI ON THE METROPOLITAN ASYLUMS BOARD
CHAPTER XVII A BAD BOYS' ADVOCATE
CHAPTER XVIII PROUD OF THE POOR
CHAPTER XIX THE FIRST WORKING-MAN MAYOR IN LONDON
CHAPTER XX THE KING'S DINNER—AND OTHERS
CHAPTER XXI THE MAN WHO PAID OLD AGE PENSIONS
CHAPTER XXII ELECTION TO PARLIAMENT
CHAPTER XXIII ADVENT OF THE POLITICAL LABOUR PARTY
CHAPTER XXIV THE LIVING WAGE FOR MEN AND WOMEN
CHAPTER XXV FREE TRADE IN THE NAME OF THE POOR
CHAPTER XXVI PREPARING FOR THE UNEMPLOYED ACT
CHAPTER XXVII AGITATION IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
CHAPTER XXVIII THE QUEEN INTERVENES
CHAPTER XXIX HOME LIFE AND SOME ENGAGEMENTS
CHAPTER XXX COLONISING ENGLAND
CHAPTER XXXI THE REVIVAL OF BUMBLEDOM
CHAPTER XXXII APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE
CHAPTER XXXIII "THE HAPPY WARRIOR"
PREFACE
This record of the career of a man whom I have known intimately in his public and private life for over a dozen years can claim at least one distinction. It is the first biography of a working man who has deliberately chosen to remain in the ranks of working men as well as in their service. From the day in the early 'nineties when he was called upon to decide between a prospective partnership in a prosperous business and the hard, joyless life of a Labour representative, with poverty for his lot and slander for his reward, he has adhered to the principle he then laid down, consistently refusing ever since the many invitations received from various quarters to come up higher. There have been endless biographies of men who have risen from the ranks of Labour and then deserted those ranks for wealthy circles. Will Crooks, in his own words, has not risen from the ranks; he is still in the ranks, standing four-square with the working classes against monopoly and privilege.
This book would have been an autobiography rather than a biography could I have had my way. Nor was I alone in urging Crooks to write the story of his life, as strenuous in its poverty as it has been in its public service. He always argued that that was not in his way at all—that, in fact, he did not believe in men sitting down to write about themselves any more than he believed in men getting up to talk about themselves.
So I have done the next best thing. Since the interpretation depends upon the interpreter, I have tried, in writing this account of his life, to make him the narrator as often as I could.