Showing posts with label F. E. Dawkins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label F. E. Dawkins. Show all posts

Monday, October 19, 2026

S.P.G.B. Lecture List For October. (1910)

Party News from the October 1910 issue of the Socialist Standard




Blogger's Note:
Once again, I don't have enough room in the label section to include all the listed speakers, so some brief information on some of the speakers missing from the sidebar. Some of these names (and details) you have seen before:
  • A. Barker. See this previous post.
  • H. Cooper was H. J. Cooper. He joined Earlsfield Branch of the SPGB in September 1908, and his membership was lapsed in December 1915.
  • F. Dawkins was a member of the Romford Branch of the SPGB, joining in August 1905. His wiki page goes into extensive detail on his background and on his political journey from Methodism (and the ILP) to Marxism (and the SPGB). Later in life he was a parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party in the Hampstead constituency at the 1929 General Election.
  • R. Fox was R. M. Fox. He joined the SPGB in Tottenham in September 1906. Better known after he left the SPGB, his 1937 autobiography, Smoky Crusade, sticks the boot into his old SPGB comrades. I should post the offending excerpts from his book on the blog some time.
  • C. Ginger: Another member of Tottenham Branch. Charles Ginger was one of those SPGB members who joined the Party more than once. There's a suggestion that C. Ginger could also be Frank Grainger, who had originally left the SPGB to join the Herald League. (See Ken Weller's book). Frank Grainger eventually rejoined the SPGB in the 1930s, and was actually selected as the Party's parliamentary candidate for the East Ham North constituency, which the Party was planning to contest at the probable 1940 General Election. (WW2 intervened.) According to Ken Weller, after he resigned from the SPGB, he later worked for the Economic League.
  • J. Halls was John H. Halls, who joined Paddington Branch of the SPGB in June 1907 (a Mrs Eleanor B. Halls joined Paddington Branch in July 1907). A regular writer and translator for the Socialist Standard in the Edwardian period, he eventually resigned his membership when he moved abroad (Paris).
  • A. Jacobs was Alf Jacobs. There is more detailed background on him in this feature which appeared in the September 1954 issue of the Socialist Standard.
  • H. Joy was a member of the Tooting Branch of the SPGB. He joined the SPGB in October 1907.
  • J. Kelly was a member of the Tottenham branch of the SPGB. There were two 'J. Kellys' in the Tottenham Branch of the SPGB (father and son?), both joining the Party in late August 1909.
  • J. Kemble was possibly John Kemble. He joined Earlsfield Branch of the SPGB in November 1907. There's no details of when he left - or why - but a John Kemble joined the Tooting Branch of the SPGB in January 1918, lapsing his membership in July 1923.
  • F. Leigh was Fred Leigh. See this previous post.
  • H. Martin was Harry Martin. He was a founder member of the SPGB, and was a member of its Peckham Branch. He was originally expelled from the SPGB in April 1905 for his activity with the Lambeth Unemployed Association but he rejoined the Party in June 1908. Martin was one of the signatories of the 1911 Provisional Committee Circular (The WB of Upton Park affair), and resigned from the SPGB in 1911. He went on to form the Socialist Propaganda League. His obituary appeared in the May 1951 issue of the Socialist Standard.
  • J. E. Roe. Jonathan Roe's obituary appeared in the August 1972 issue of the Socialist Standard.
  • F. J. Rourke was a member of the Tottenham Branch, originally joining the SPGB in June 1909. Their membership was lapsed in February 1914. ("Moved away".)
  • F. W. Stearn was a member of the Tottenham Branch. There were actually two 'F. Stearn's in the branch at the time - possibly father and son - so I don't know which one was a listed speaker for this month.

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

S.P.G.B. Lecture List For October. (1909)

Party News from the October 1909 issue of the Socialist Standard




Blogger's Note:
Once again, I don't have enough room in the label section to include all the listed speakers, so some brief information on some of the speakers missing from the sidebar.
  • H. Cooper was H. J. Cooper. He joined Earlsfield Branch of the SPGB in September 1908, and his membership was lapsed in December 1915.
  • F. Dawkins was a member of the Romford Branch of the SPGB, joining in August 1905. His wiki page goes into extensive detail on his background and on his political journey from Methodism (and the ILP) to Marxism (and the SPGB). Later in life he was a parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party in the Hampstead constituency at the 1929 General Election.
  • R. Fox was R. M. Fox. He joined the SPGB in Tottenham in September 1906. Better known after he left the SPGB, his 1937 autobiography, Smoky Crusade, sticks the boot into his old SPGB comrades. I should post the offending excerpts from his book on the blog some time.
  • J. Halls was John H. Halls, who joined Paddington Branch of the SPGB in June 1907 (a Mrs Eleanor B. Halls joined Paddington Branch in July 1907). A regular writer and translator for the Socialist Standard in the Edwardian period, he eventually resigned his membership when he moved abroad (Paris).
  • A. Jacobs was Alf Jacobs. There is more detailed background on him in this feature which appeared in the September 1954 issue of the Socialist Standard.
  • H. Joy was a member of the Tooting Branch of the SPGB. He joined the SPGB in October 1907.
  • J. Kemble was possibly John Kemble. He joined Earlsfield Branch of the SPGB in November 1907. There's no details of when he left - or why - but a John Kemble joined the Tooting Branch of the SPGB in January 1918, lapsing his membership in July 1923.
  • J. Kennett was a member of Romford Branch, joining the Party in May 1905. 
  • F. Leigh was Fred Leigh. See this previous post.
  • H. Martin was Harry Martin. He was a founder member of the SPGB, and was a member of its Peckham Branch. He was originally expelled from the SPGB in April 1905 for his activity with the Lambeth Unemployed Association but he rejoined the Party in June 1908. Martin was one of the signatories of the 1911 Provisional Committee Circular (The WB of Upton Park affair), and resigned from the SPGB in 1911. He went on to form the Socialist Propaganda League. His obituary appeared in the May 1951 issue of the Socialist Standard.
  • F. W. Stearn was a member of the Tottenham Branch. There were actually two 'F. Stearn's in the branch at the time - possibly father and son - so I don't know which one was a listed speaker for this month.

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

S.P.G.B. Lecture List For October. (1911)

Party News from the October 1911 issue of the Socialist Standard




Blogger's Note:
Once again, I don't have enough room in the label section to include all the listed speakers, so some brief information on some of the speakers missing from the sidebar.
  • A. Bays is possibly the member listed as W. Bays' in the early Party membership records, who was a member of the Stoke Newington Branch of the SPGB. He joined the SPGB in May 1910. No date is given for when - or why - he left.
  • H. Cooper was H.J. Cooper. He joined Earlsfield Branch of the SPGB in September 1908, and his membership was lapsed in December 1915.
  • F. Dawkins was a member of the Romford Branch of the SPGB, joining in August 1905. His wiki page goes into extensive detail on his background and on his political journey from Methodism (and the ILP) to Marxism (and the SPGB). Later in life he was a parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party in the Hampstead constituency at the 1929 General Election.
  • R. Fox was R. M. Fox. He joined the SPGB in Tottenham in September 1906. Better known after he left the SPGB, his 1937 autobiography, Smoky Crusade, sticks the boot into his old SPGB comrades. I should post the offending excerpts from his book on the blog some time.
  • J. Halls was John H. Halls, who joined Paddington Branch of the SPGB in June 1907 (a Mrs Eleanor B. Halls joined Paddington Branch in July 1907). A regular writer and translator for the Socialist Standard in the Edwardian period, he eventually resigned his membership when he moved abroad (Paris).
  • A. Hoskyns was Ambrose Hoskyns. He joined the Islington Branch of the SPGB in August 1910. He was an occasional writer for the Socialist Standard in the Pre-War 1914 period. There are no details of when he left the SPGB. A flavour of his writing (and the early history of the SPGB) is contained within his April 1911 article, 'The Attempted Suppression of Free Speech in Islington'.
  • A. Jacobs was Alf Jacobs. There is more detailed background on him in this feature which appeared in the September 1954 issue of the Socialist Standard.
  • H. Joy was a member of the Tooting Branch of the SPGB. They joined the SPGB in October 1907.
  • C. Parker was a member of West Ham Branch. Joined the SPGB in May 1906, and was lapsed from membership in October 1929.
  • F. J. Rourke was a member of the Tottenham Branch, originally joining the SPGB in June 1909. Their membership was lapsed in February 1914. ("Moved away".)
  • F. W. Stearn was a member of the Tottenham Branch. There were actually two 'F. Stearn's in the branch at the time - possibly father and son - so I don't know which one was a listed speaker for this month.

Saturday, February 7, 2026

Sunday, December 28, 2025

S.P.G.B. Lecture List For December. (London District.) (1910)

Party News from the December 1910 issue of the Socialist Standard
 

 
Blogger's Note:
Once again, I don't have enough room in the label section to include all the listed speakers, so some brief information on a few of the speakers missing from the sidebar is posted below. You can also check out these older posts which covers the same ground:
  • F. Dawkins was a member of the Romford Branch of the SPGB, joining in August 1905. His wiki page goes into extensive detail on his background and on his political journey from Methodism (and the ILP) to Marxism (and the SPGB). Later in life he was a parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party in the Hampstead constituency at the 1929 General Election.
  • J. Kelly was a member of the Tottenham branch of the SPGB. There were two 'J. Kellys' in the Tottenham Branch of the SPGB (father and son?), both joining the Party in late August 1909.
  • F. Leigh was Fred Leigh. He was a founder member of the SPGB. His membership lapsed from the Paddington Branch of the SPGB in January 1914.
  • R. Fox was R. M. Fox. He joined the SPGB in Tottenham in September 1906. Better known after he left the SPGB, his 1937 autobiography, Smoky Crusade, sticks the boot into his old SPGB comrades. I should post the offending excerpts from his book on the blog some time.
  • G. Holmes was probably Johnny Holmes, who joined the Earlsfield Branch of the Party in August 1909, and who subsequently rejoined the SPGB (Tooting Branch) in April 1921.
  • R. Kenny was Robert Kenny. Though not a founder member of the SPGB, he joined the Edmonton Branch of the Party on the 26th June 1904. That was two weeks to the day after the SPGB  was founded. His membership lapsed in late August 1914, but he rejoined Edmonton Branch in October 1916. He resigned his party membership in December 1931 on the grounds that he felt "he was too old to be active".
  • J. Kemble was possibly John Kemble. He joined Earlsfield Branch of the SPGB in November 1907. There's no details of when he left - or why - but a John Kemble joined the Tooting Branch of the SPGB in January 1918, lapsing his membership in July 1923.
  • H. Cooper was H.J. Cooper. He joined Earlsfield Branch of the SPGB in September 1908, and his membership was lapsed in December 1915.
  • A. Jacobs was Alf Jacobs. There is more detailed background on him in this feature which appeared in the September 1954 issue of the Socialist Standard.

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

S.P.G.B. Lecture List For August. (1909)

 Party News from the August 1909 issue of the Socialist Standard



Blogger's Note:
As you can see, my copy of the August 1909 issue of the Socialist Standard is not exactly in tip-top condition. Interesting to see Harry Martin in amongst the speakers. 

Monday, July 21, 2025

S.P.G.B. Lecture List For July. (London District.) (1911)

 Party News from the July 1911 issue of the Socialist Standard




Blogger's Notes:
My usual moan when posting the lecture lists from the Pre-WW1 period: Not enough label space on the blog for all the speakers listed, so it becomes an SPGB Sophie's Choice at my end. (Poor taste? Just a tad.) Anyway, here's some brief info about some of the speakers who missed the cut:
  • H. Joy: A member of Tooting Branch. Joined the Party in October 1907.
  • C. Parker: A member of West Ham Branch. Joined the SPGB in May 1906, and was lapsed from membership in October 1929.
  • F. Stearn: A member of Tottenham Branch. Lapsed during the war.
  • H. Cooper: A member of Earlsfield Branch. Was a member of the SPGB from 1908 until 1915.
  • F. J. Rourke: A member of Tottenham Branch. Was a member of the SPGB from 1909 until 1914.
  • C. Ginger: Another member of Tottenham Branch. Charles Ginger was one of those SPGB members who joined the Party more than once. There's a suggestion that C. Ginger could also be Frank Grainger, who had originally left the SPGB to join the Herald League. (See Ken Weller's book). Frank Grainger eventually rejoined the SPGB in the 1930s, and was actually selected as the Party's parliamentary candidate for the East Ham North constituency, which the Party was planning to contest at the probable 1940 General Election. (WW2 intervened.) According to Ken Weller, after he resigned from the SPGB, he later worked for the Economic League.
  • J. Nightman: Here's a wee mystery. J. Nightman is listed 6 times in the July 1911 lecture list but there's no record of a 'J. Nightman' in the membership records. As I've mentioned previously on the blog, the membership records are incomplete and it's possible 'J. Nightman' is one of those missing members. Alternatively, it could have been a nom de guerre that a socialist had had to adopt whilst fighting the class war. We'll never know.