48:. He worked for a livestock dealer from the age of eight then, when he reached fourteen, followed his father into working in an iron foundry. He moved to a rival firm for a promised increase in wages, but this was not delivered and he was instead soon laid off, rendering him unemployed for two years until he was able to regain work at his original employer. This enabled him to complete an apprenticeship; during this period, he also married Harriet Rosier, and became prominent in the local
91:
on three occasions from 1894 to 1897; he was not elected, although several other SDF candidates were. In 1896, the AGWU collapsed, leaving Quelch unemployed, although he was able to find work for the SDF itself, initially in
Reading, then by co-option to the SDF executive as a national propagandist.
135:
member was chosen, and Quelch stood against him as an independent NSP candidate. He took only 5.2% of the vote and came bottom of the poll. Following the declaration of the result, he conceded that standing against Labour was a mistake, and he thereafter devoted his time to the party.
115:, and with its support, Quelch was elected to Reading Town Council for the Minster ward in 1914. He also became president of the town's new Trade Union Club. Quelch organised a vote of local BSP members to gauge their views on British involvement in
75:
in 1893, and also joined the renamed Social
Democratic Federation (SDF). He proved an effective organiser, in particular rallying unemployed workers and encouraging town councils to provide paid labour for them. Through it, he became active in the
139:
Quelch remained on the town council, and was also elected to the Board of
Guardians in 1919, focusing his time on finding solutions to problems of unemployment and promoting house building in the town. He became an
219:
199:
67:, and Lorenzo used this to promote the ideas of the Democratic Federation in the town. In 1891, he was elected as the Berkshire secretary for the
214:
209:
128:
124:
204:
77:
68:
120:
56:
108:(BSP), and Quelch was its delegate to the Reading Trades and Labour Council, becoming the council's secretary in 1917.
59:. Lorenzo was influenced by this and distributed literature from the group, but was also associated with the local
132:
93:
105:
81:
194:
189:
49:
88:
72:
60:
112:
100:, organising the Coal Porters' Union. He spent six successful months there before moving to
71:, then as regional organiser the following year. In order to further this, Quelch moved to
26:
23:
183:
37:
104:, alternating work in foundries and for the SDF. The SDF became the core of a new
45:
116:
64:
30:
97:
41:
119:; they were in favour, and so Quelch gave pro-war speeches, and joined the
141:
101:
123:(NSP) split from the BSP. He hoped to be the Labour candidate for
55:
Quelch's brother Harry had moved to London and joined the
63:. They gave him funds to start a working men's club in
144:in 1933, serving until his death four years later.
8:
165:
163:
161:
159:
157:
153:
78:Agricultural and General Workers' Union
92:He campaigned for his brother in the
22:(5 January 1862 – 19 May 1937) was a
16:British trade unionist and politician
7:
220:Social Democratic Federation members
44:, Quelch was the younger brother of
14:
96:, then afterwards spent time in
200:British Socialist Party members
69:English Land Restoration League
215:Trade unionists from Wiltshire
171:Dictionary of Labour Biography
1:
210:Labour Party (UK) politicians
87:Quelch stood for the Reading
236:
131:, but instead an anti-war
111:The BSP affiliated to the
205:Councillors in Berkshire
133:Independent Labour Party
121:National Socialist Party
94:1898 Reading by-election
106:British Socialist Party
84:in 1895 on its behalf.
173:, vol.XIII, pp.319-334
129:1918 general election
82:Trades Union Congress
57:Democratic Federation
20:Lorenzo Edward Quelch
169:John S. Partington,
80:, and attended the
50:temperance movement
89:Board of Guardians
227:
174:
167:
235:
234:
230:
229:
228:
226:
225:
224:
180:
179:
178:
177:
168:
155:
150:
17:
12:
11:
5:
233:
231:
223:
222:
217:
212:
207:
202:
197:
192:
182:
181:
176:
175:
152:
151:
149:
146:
27:trade unionist
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
232:
221:
218:
216:
213:
211:
208:
206:
203:
201:
198:
196:
193:
191:
188:
187:
185:
172:
166:
164:
162:
160:
158:
154:
147:
145:
143:
137:
134:
130:
126:
122:
118:
114:
109:
107:
103:
99:
95:
90:
85:
83:
79:
74:
70:
66:
62:
61:Liberal Party
58:
53:
51:
47:
43:
39:
38:Little Bedwyn
34:
32:
28:
25:
21:
170:
138:
113:Labour Party
110:
86:
54:
46:Harry Quelch
35:
19:
18:
195:1937 deaths
190:1862 births
117:World War I
184:Categories
148:References
65:Hungerford
31:politician
98:Gibraltar
42:Wiltshire
142:alderman
36:Born in
127:at the
125:Reading
73:Reading
24:British
102:London
29:and
40:in
186::
156:^
52:.
33:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.