Party Funds (1938)

Party News from the November 1938 issue of the Socialist Standard

Donations to General Account

          (to October 19th).

Hyde Park Symp., 2s. 6d.; E. H., 2s.; W. H., 2s. K. F., 1s.; W. M., 2s. 6d.; G. A. J., 3s.; J. C., 4s.; H. R. 2s. 6d.; W. R., 3s. 6d.; E. P., 6s. 6d.; A. C., 10s.; Manchester Branch, £1 11s.- W. T. H., £1 2s. ; C. E. B. 3s. 6d.; F., 5s.; O., 5s.; H. G. H., 10s.; C. P., 2s.; Chiswick Branch, £2 1s.; A. S., 5s.; P., 2s. 6d. ; S. W. T., 2s. D. F. S., 5s.: F. & R. T., 7s. 6d.; P. H., 1s.; J. W. S. 10s.; Chiswick Branch, £1 10s.; A. S., 5s.; L. J., 2s. ; D. H., 2s. 6d. ; J. J., 2s. 6d. ; G. S. S., 2s.; E. K., £1 H. C. G., 10s. j J. B., 7s.; Quartet, 5s.; Mrs. H., 18s. 3d. M., 2s.; Paddington Branch, 10s.

Donations to Parliamentary Fund.

The following donations to the Parliamentary Fund have been received : Previously acknowledged, .£470 6s. 4d. Donations to October 15th, 1938: Dagenham & Romford, 1s.; J. R. B., 6d.; H. B., 1s.; J. M. 12s.; B., 2s. 6d.; West Ham, 10s.; East Ham, 10s.; Eccles, 2s. 6d.; P. H., 1s.; Stepney, 8s. 9d.; 'E. C., 1s.; Birmingham, 3s.; S.W. London, 10s.; R. E. T., Tottenham, 10s.; Clifford, 1s.; Thurmud, 5s.; W. G., 2s. 9d.; S. H. & Co., 6s. 6d.; Socialist Party of New Zealand, £6 10s.; M.P. Workers, £1 11s. 8d.; Manchester, £1 3s. 6d.; Hutch, 1s. 0d.; S. H. & Co., 6s. 6d.; P. H., 1s.: W. M., 2s. 2d.; East Ham, 10s.; W. P. S.. 2s. 6d.; E. C., 1s.; J. R. B., 4s. 6d.: G. S. S., 2s. 6d. Total: £485 11s. 8d.

New Premises Fund (1936)

Party News from the October 1936 issue of the Socialist Standard

Again we have to remind readers that we need money urgently for our New Premises Fund. When the present renewal runs out, in about six months, we shall be faced with the need to secure other and larger headquarters. Our freedom of choice will be strictly limited by the amount of money we have in hand to enable us to meet removal and furnishing costs, and to pay the higher rent until our extended activities make it possible to pay the higher rent out of current income.

Send your donations to the Treasurer, 42, Great Dover Street, S. E. 1.

A list of donations is printed below: -

Educational Classes (1935)

Party News from the October 1935 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Notes:

• 'Stewart' was Stella Stewart, who is better known today as Stella Jackson, and who was the daughter of SPGB founding members, T. A. Jackson and Kitty Hawkins. By 1935, T. A. Jackson was a longstanding leading member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
• 'Hayden' was Harry Hayden. He joined the Battersea Branch of the SPGB in April 1932, and was a member of the Party until he resigned his membership in December 1959. He rejoined the Party in July 1975 and remained in the Party until his death in 1992. His obituary appeared in the September 1992 issue of the Socialist Standard.
• 'L. Otway' was the husband of May Otway. Both joined Walthamstow Branch of the SPGB in October 1924. Whilst May Otway resigned her membership of the Party in April 1940, L. Otway was lapsed from Party membership in May 1942.
• 'Reginald' was Augustus Snellgrove's pen-name/ party name.
• 'E. W. Brightmore' , a former member of the Labour Party and the CPGB, was a member of Leyton Branch from 1933 until his membership was lapsed in 1936.
• 'Goldberg' was David Goldberg. He joined the Hackney Branch of the SPGB in March 1925. He's mentioned in Barltrop's book, The Monument, as dying during World War Two. He was killed in action in Italy in 1945.

SPGB Meetings (1936)

Party News from the July 1936 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Note:

'Comrade Clifford', who was the London speaker at the Durdham Downs, Bristol meeting, was Clifford Groves.

Party Funds (1937)

Party News from the August 1937 issue of the Socialist Standard

Donations to Party Funds. (1938)

Party News from the July 1938 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings (1943)

Party News from the November 1943 issue of the Socialist Standard

Donations to General Fund (1941)

Party News from the November 1941 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Note:

I've not previously made a habit of posting these types of party funds columns from the war years on the blog, but I thought this time it was appropriate because of the bitter irony that the war economy brought full employment, and that trickled down into members and sympathizers pockets resulting in the Party being flush with donations for the first time in years. The sheer volume of donations was unprecedented and when you see the likes of Hamilton Branch donating to Party funds again and again, you know that for millions of workers war brought its financial benefits.

Obituary: Jack Thurston (1990)

Obituary from the November 1990 issue of the Socialist Standard

We regret to have to report the death of our comrade Jack Thurston on 1 September at the age of 84. He had been a member since 1933 when he joined the old Wembley branch and was subsequently, successively, a member of the Chiswick, Ealing and West London branches.

Jack Thurston was born in that part of England where the borders of Surrey and Hamphsire meet. The area bristles with military camps and his father had been a professional soldier. At an early age, soon after the first world war to end all wars, he too joined the army. He was first sent to Ireland where, as he used to recall, he witnessed the atrocities committed by the Black and Tans, and then to Egypt and the Sudan where he witnessed the atrocities committed by the British colonial authorities as when they ordered the public hanging of scores of locals in reprisal for the killing of a British soldier.

When he left the army he got a job as a painter at the Watney's brewery in Mortlake. This was an anti-union firm and he probably got the job because he was ex-army but, unbeknown to the employers, amongst the workforce was a handful of socialists. Jack met one of them and eventually became a socialist himself. From that moment on he never ceased to argue the case for socialism, amongst both his workmates and his neighbours. For a while a Hounslow Group of the Party, composed largely of his neighbours, met in the large garage at the back of his house in Hounslow.

Jack Thurston will be remembered as a straightforward man who was an indefatigable campaigner for socialism.

Comrade Ivy Groves (1958)

Obituary from the June 1958 issue of the Socialist Standard

It is a sad duty to have to report the sudden death at the age of 50 years, of Ivy Groves, who had a heart attack on Sunday. May 4th. The not so very young members will well remember her as a loyal Comrade who, although not a writer or a speaker for the Party, was always ready with a smile and much energy, to help in any way. Until the last few years, when owing to domestic circumstances when it was not possible to be around so much, she regularly attended branch meetings and Head Office. It was 25 years ago when Comrade Ivy Groves joined the Chiswick Branch which via Wembley Branch became Ealing Branch Latterly, when living in South London she transferred to Camberwell Branch. Many Comrades well know that her help and thoughtfulness greatly assisted Clifford Groves in his work for the Party as a propagandist, E. C. Member and General Secretary for many years.

Obituary: Clifford Groves (1959)

Obituary from the February 1959 issue of the Socialist Standard

It is a sad thought that, after several years of bad health, Clifford Groves is now dead at 52 years of age. Following the death of his wife, Ivy, also a member, he was taken into hospital with little hope of recovery. Comrade Groves’ family were Salvationists and during his boyhood he was taught the trumpet. As his mind matured he broke away from religion and, taking his trumpet with him, he used it to augment his wages by playing in a jazz band in good New Orleans style. Then he parted company with the trumpet for the mind-awakening blasts of Socialist propaganda. His experiences working in company offices and on the “road” as a firm’s representative (“high-class hawker,” to use his own description) made him more and more critical of the morality of the buying and selling of commodities until, in this frame of mind, he chanced to listen to Party speakers. Discussions with Party members ensued which not only did much for him but for the Party members also, for Groves possessed a very critical and ordered mind together with a somewhat caustic wit. Consequently Chiswick Branch members were soon polishing up and improving upon their own knowledge. He joined Chiswick in 1933 and shortly afterwards met Adolph Kohn, an outstandingly able propagandist and, in his own works, he “became Kohn’s pupil” and studied hard and long. He was soon speaking for the Party on the outdoor and indoor platforms and developed an excellent manner and clarity of expression that was a joy to hear. Some will recall his pre-war lectures on the “Popular Front” in France and, later, on the “Beveridge” Report and Family Allowances (the Party pamphlets on both these subjects were written by him).

As he developed, he became in demand as a Party representative in debate and was, at all times, calm and unruffled, even under the most trying conditions, giving of his best whether to a small audience in Cambridge or a “full house” at Kensington Town Hall. Later he became General Secretary and, in 1945, was nominated as our candidate at Paddington North in the General Election. Here, with many other Party members, he gave of his best in what, to many, was the best election campaign the Party has undertaken. (He also represented the Party in the by-election in 1946.) In 1949, signs of ill-health began to appear and, although he resigned as General Secretary, he continued on the Executive Committee for a few more years.

Few knew Groves well, but those of us who did, knew him to be a modest man and, in some ways, a shy one, who freely acknowledged the help that he had received from other Party members. To him the struggle for the establishment of Socialism was the only work worth while and represented his sole interest.

In concluding this salute to a very able propagandist for Socialism, it is appropriate to mention that, in large measure, his work was only made possible by the great help he received from Ivy, his wife, who, throughout the years took over practically all their domestic worries and responsibilities, leaving him free to carry out his Party work.

Phyllis Howard and Arthur George

Obituaries: Harry Edwards; Phyllis Howard; Vic Berry; Neil Brodie (1990)

Obituaries from the March 1990 issue of the Socialist Standard

Harry Edwards

West London branch members were shocked by the death of Comrade Harry Edwards at their branch meeting on 1 February at the age of 67.

Harry Edwards had joined the old Paddington branch of the Party in 1947 after being demobbed from the army, later transferring to Ealing and then to West London. He worked for the old road transport division of the railways, a job which entitled him to travel cheaply all over Europe where he had many friends and contacts and from which he retired early. This gave him the time to pursue the things that really interested him, the local rowing and chess clubs (he had been a keen rower in his younger days, the captain of his club in fact) as well as socialist activity.

At the time of his death he was branch treasurer, acting Central Branch Secretary and member of the Standing Orders Committee preparing this year's Conference at Easter. A quiet reliable man who was always prepared to take on such essential if unglamorous tasks in a revolutionary organisation, he will be missed both by the Party and his family.

Phyllis Howard

Phyllis died peacefully on New Year's Day 1990 at the age of 83.

She joined the Party in 1934, together with her future husband, Arthur George. Both were members of Bloomsbury Branch (now Camden), and were tireless workers of the Party in the 30s and the difficult period during and immediately after the war.

Phyllis served on practically every Party committee, including several years on the Executive Committee. Her last official post was that of General Secretary. In addition, she was a candidate in a local election in the 60s.

For many years she was secretary of the Editorial Committee of the Socialist Standard and the committee met regularly at her home in North London. Phyllis never really recovered from Arthur's unexpected death in 1982, and her health deteriorated.

All who met her will remember her as a warm-hearted and gentle person. Her contribution to the SPGB will be remembered with appreciation.

Vic Berry

We regret to have to announce the death last November of our Comrade V. J. Berry. Vic Berry first joined the old Leyton branch of the Party in 1932 and before the war was a regular speaker at the Party's outdoor stations in Leyton, East Ham and Hackney. Like so many others, family commitments led to him dropping out of activity for a number of years, and it was only in 1963 that he rejoined, Camberwell branch. On his retirement he moved to Torquay from where he continued to propagate socialist ideas. His last article, on Robert Owen, appeared in the October Socialist Standard.

Neil Brodie

Neil Brodie, who died in early January, joined the old Chiswick Branch of the Party in 1938, and was a member of the later Ealing and West London branches, for which he was the Treasurer for 18 years. As a young man he had come to London from Scotland and worked as a civil servant at the Post Office. When the Post Office Savings Bank moved to Glasgow he took the opportunity to return to Scotland where he remained after his retirement.

We extend our sympathy to his wife and daughter.