The Labour Movement originated not in a single event or location but over time and as the result of events in many places. Among the most important of these was the West Riding of Yorkshire, where the Independent Labour Party was formed in the 1880s.
In the second annual John L. Halstead Memorial Lecture, Professor Keith Laybourn spoke on ‘The Rising Sun of Socialism: The emergence of the Labour Movement in the textile district of the West Riding of Yorkshire. c.1884–1914’. The event took place on Saturday 28 October 2023 at the Marx Memorial Library in Clerkenwell – and Professor Laybourn’s lecture can be seen below.
Dr Joan Allen, chair of the Society for the Study of Labour History introduced Professor Laybourn, who is an historian of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century specialising in labour history and the working class in Britain. His many books include The Independent Labour Party, 1914-1939 (Routledge, 2022) and The Rise of Socialism in Britain (Sutton, 1997).
He also co-authored The Rising Sun of Socialism: The ILP in West Yorkshire (West Yorkshire Archive Service, 1991) with David James, and contributed a similarly named chapter to The Labour Party in Historical Perspective (Socialist History Society, 2018).
Explaining his choice of topic ahead of the event, Professor Laybourn said: ‘E. P. Thompson reminded us in the 1960s of the importance of provincial history, at a time when historians were still discussing national events, by noting that the Independent Labour Party/Movement began in the industrial North and provinces rather than London. He also noted that whilst individuals, such as Fred Jowett, Edward Robertshaw Hartley, John Lister and Keir Hardie, Ben Tillett and Tom Mann were important in this process the challenge of Labour in this area was a product of community.
‘This lecture aims to re-examine Thompson’s findings and examine what factors shaped varied experiences of industrial and rural areas in Labour’s growth, and why trade unionism was a factor in some areas but replaced by the growth of ethical socialism in others. In doing so it will examine the Manningham mill strike, trade unionism, club and social life, the Clarion movement and anti-Liberalism, and will argue that there was a growing political and cultural labour movement developing before the First World War which would have projected Labour forward despite the impact of war on Liberal fortunes and the regional nature of Labour’s early political growth.’
The John L Halstead Memorial Lecture is organised annually by the Society for the Study of Labour History. It is named after John Halstead, who served the society in almost every available office for a period of sixty years until his death in 2021.
Society for the Study of Labour History 