Will Crooks
Encyclopedia
William Crooks (6 April 1852 – 5 June 1921) was a noted trade unionist and politician
from Poplar, London
, and a member of the Fabian Society
. He is particularly remembered for his campaigning work against poverty and inequality.
in 1861. This experience had a profound influence on Crooks' views on poverty.
Educated at a local Poor law
school, Crooks worked initially as a grocer's errand boy, then a blacksmith's labourer and then as an apprentice cooper
. A keen reader, Crooks learned about reformers such as Richard Cobden
and John Bright
, and was asked by his fellow workers to speak out about their working conditions. Consequently, he was sacked for being a political agitator. He remained a member of the Coopers Union from 1867 until his death in 1921.
After a short spell working in Liverpool
, Crooks returned to London and found work in the docks. He also began to give political lectures, and his speaking abilities proved helpful in raising funds for 10,000 striking dockers in the 1889 London Dock Strike
.
Earlier that year, Crooks, a candidate for the Progressive Party
, successfully stood for election to the London County Council
, and joined Sidney Webb and other labour movement leaders in the LCC. He also became the first working-class member, and later chairman, of the Poplar Board of Guardians
. With support from friend and fellow member George Lansbury
, Crooks set about reforming the local workhouse, creating a model for other Poor Law
authorities.
A prominent local politician, he helped bring about many local improvements. On 3 August 1895, Crooks formally opened Island Gardens
, a park at the south end of the Isle of Dogs
, opposite Greenwich Hospital. He also campaigned for the first Blackwall Tunnel
, and as Chairman of the LCC Bridges Committee in 1898, he helped provide the Greenwich
and Woolwich foot tunnel
s (completed in 1902 and 1912 respectively).
In 1901 Crooks became the first Labour
mayor of Poplar, and two years later was elected to Parliament
as MP
for Woolwich
. This success was the result of a pact between the Labour Representation Committee and the Liberal Party
, which wrested the seat away from the Conservative Party
). At the time, he was only the fourth Labour MP (preceded by James Keir Hardie, Richard Bell
and David Shackleton
; Arthur Henderson
followed later in 1903).
As an MP, he retained his working-class roots and contacts, campaigned hard for workers' pensions, supported reforms to limit the powers of the House of Lords
, and supported Balfour’s
Unemployment Bill in 1905. Re-elected in 1906, he supported the reforming Liberal governments of Campbell-Bannerman
(1906-1908) and Asquith (1908-1910).
Crooks lost his seat in Parliament at the January 1910 general election, but was re-elected at the December 1910 general election, and remained an MP until ill-health forced his retirement in February 1921. He died in the London Hospital, Whitechapel
four months later, and was buried in Tower Hamlets Cemetery
.
In 1930, one of the Woolwich Ferry
paddle-steamers was named in his memory (taken out of service in 1963). A council housing estate in his native Poplar still bears his name, as does a road in Eltham
, just south of Woolwich
.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
from Poplar, London
Poplar, London
Poplar is a historic, mainly residential area of the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is about east of Charing Cross. Historically a hamlet in the parish of Stepney, Middlesex, in 1817 Poplar became a civil parish. In 1855 the Poplar District of the Metropolis was...
, and a member of the Fabian Society
Fabian Society
The Fabian Society is a British socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up to World...
. He is particularly remembered for his campaigning work against poverty and inequality.
Biography
Born in Shirbutt Street, Poplar, Crooks was the third son of a ship's stoker, George Crooks, who lost his arm in an accident when Crooks was three years old. His mother, Caroline Elizabeth (née Coates), then supported the family by working as a seamstress, but money was scarce and five of the children were temporarily forced to enter Poplar workhouseWorkhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
in 1861. This experience had a profound influence on Crooks' views on poverty.
Educated at a local Poor law
Poor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
school, Crooks worked initially as a grocer's errand boy, then a blacksmith's labourer and then as an apprentice cooper
Cooper (profession)
Traditionally, a cooper is someone who makes wooden staved vessels of a conical form, of greater length than breadth, bound together with hoops and possessing flat ends or heads...
. A keen reader, Crooks learned about reformers such as Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden was a British manufacturer and Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with John Bright in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League as well as with the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty...
and John Bright
John Bright
John Bright , Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy...
, and was asked by his fellow workers to speak out about their working conditions. Consequently, he was sacked for being a political agitator. He remained a member of the Coopers Union from 1867 until his death in 1921.
After a short spell working in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Crooks returned to London and found work in the docks. He also began to give political lectures, and his speaking abilities proved helpful in raising funds for 10,000 striking dockers in the 1889 London Dock Strike
London Dock Strike of 1889
The London Dock Strike was an industrial dispute involving dock workers in the Port of London. It broke out on 14 August 1889, and resulted in a victory for the strikers and established strong trade unions amongst London dockers, one of which became the nationally important Dock, Wharf, Riverside...
.
Earlier that year, Crooks, a candidate for the Progressive Party
Progressive Party (London)
The Progressive Party was a political party based around the Liberal Party that contested municipal elections in the County of London.It was founded in 1888 by a group of Liberals and leaders of the labour movement. It was also supported by the Fabian Society, and Sidney Webb was one of its...
, successfully stood for election to the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
, and joined Sidney Webb and other labour movement leaders in the LCC. He also became the first working-class member, and later chairman, of the Poplar Board of Guardians
Board of Guardians
Boards of guardians were ad hoc authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930.-England and Wales:The boards were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish Overseers of the Poor established under the old poor law, following the recommendations...
. With support from friend and fellow member George Lansbury
George Lansbury
George Lansbury was a British politician, socialist, Christian pacifist and newspaper editor. He was a Member of Parliament from 1910 to 1912 and from 1922 to 1940, and leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935....
, Crooks set about reforming the local workhouse, creating a model for other Poor Law
Poor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
authorities.
A prominent local politician, he helped bring about many local improvements. On 3 August 1895, Crooks formally opened Island Gardens
Island Gardens
Island Gardens is a public park located at the southern end of the Isle of Dogs—hence the name 'Island'—in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on the north bank of the River Thames...
, a park at the south end of the Isle of Dogs
Isle of Dogs
The Isle of Dogs is a former island in the East End of London that is bounded on three sides by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames.-Etymology:...
, opposite Greenwich Hospital. He also campaigned for the first Blackwall Tunnel
Blackwall Tunnel
The Blackwall Tunnel is a pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in east London, linking the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the London Borough of Greenwich, and part of the A102 road. The northern portal lies just south of the East India Dock Road in Blackwall; the southern...
, and as Chairman of the LCC Bridges Committee in 1898, he helped provide the Greenwich
Greenwich foot tunnel
The Greenwich foot tunnel is a pedestrian tunnel crossing beneath the River Thames in East London, linking Greenwich in the south with the Isle of Dogs to the north...
and Woolwich foot tunnel
Woolwich foot tunnel
The Woolwich foot tunnel is a tunnel crossing under the River Thames in East London from Woolwich in the London Borough of Greenwich to North Woolwich in the London Borough of Newham. The tunnel offers pedestrians an alternative way to cross the river when the Woolwich Ferry service is not operating...
s (completed in 1902 and 1912 respectively).
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
mayor of Poplar, and two years later was elected to Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
as MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Woolwich
Woolwich (UK Parliament constituency)
Woolwich was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1918 and from 1983 to 1997...
. This success was the result of a pact between the Labour Representation Committee and the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
, which wrested the seat away from the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
). At the time, he was only the fourth Labour MP (preceded by James Keir Hardie, Richard Bell
Richard Bell (politician)
Richard Bell was one of the first two British Labour Members of Parliament, and the first English one, elected after the formation of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900....
and David Shackleton
David Shackleton
Sir David James Shackleton was a cotton worker and trade unionist who became the third Labour Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, following the formation of the Labour Representation Committee. He later became a senior civil servant....
; Arthur Henderson
Arthur Henderson
Arthur Henderson was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the 1934 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and he served three short terms as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1908–1910, 1914–1917 and 1931-1932....
followed later in 1903).
As an MP, he retained his working-class roots and contacts, campaigned hard for workers' pensions, supported reforms to limit the powers of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, and supported Balfour’s
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
Unemployment Bill in 1905. Re-elected in 1906, he supported the reforming Liberal governments of Campbell-Bannerman
Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman GCB was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1908. He also served as Secretary of State for War twice, in the Cabinets of Gladstone and Rosebery...
(1906-1908) and Asquith (1908-1910).
Crooks lost his seat in Parliament at the January 1910 general election, but was re-elected at the December 1910 general election, and remained an MP until ill-health forced his retirement in February 1921. He died in the London Hospital, Whitechapel
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
four months later, and was buried in Tower Hamlets Cemetery
Tower Hamlets Cemetery
Tower Hamlets Cemetery is a cemetery located in the East End of London; its nearest tube station is Mile End. The cemetery opened in 1841 and closed for burials in 1966. It is now a nature reserve, and other land has been added to the park, including "Scrapyard Meadow"...
.
In 1930, one of the Woolwich Ferry
Woolwich Ferry
The Woolwich Free Ferry is a boat service across the River Thames, London, UK, which is licensed and financed by London River Services, the maritime arm of Transport for London...
paddle-steamers was named in his memory (taken out of service in 1963). A council housing estate in his native Poplar still bears his name, as does a road in Eltham
Eltham, London
-Parks and open spaces:There is a large variety of open green space in Eltham, in the form of parkland, fields and woodland.*Avery Hill Park is large, open parkland, situated to the east of Eltham. It is most notable for its Winter Garden, a hothouse containing tropical trees and plants from around...
, just south of Woolwich
Woolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
.