Foreword by The Rt. Hon. LORD AILWYN OF HONINGHAM ( Ex-Minister of Agriculture ) Introduction by W. R. SMITH, M.P. ( President of the National Union of Agricultural Workers ) Illustrated LONDON: THE LABOUR PUBLISHING COMPANY LTD. 6 TAVISTOCK SQUARE. First published 1922   ( All rights reserved ) Printed in Great Britain by UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, LONDON AND WOKING...

By the Right Honourable LORD AILWYN OF HONINGHAM, P.C. (Ex-Minister of Agriculture) ( Chairman of the Norfolk County Council ) Norfolk has produced many men of whom it may be proud and among them is the author of this book. I am glad to know that his friends have induced Mr. George Edwards to write the story of his life, and it is with great pleasure that I have assented to his request to write a few introductory words, as I have known him for a number of years and been associated with him in a

This book is more than the record of an adventurous and useful life. It is an outline of the conditions of labour in our greatest national industry during the last seventy years. It is the story of years of struggle to raise the status and standard of life of the agricultural workers of England from a state of feudal serfdom to the relatively high level now reached, mainly through the organization of the Agricultural Labourers' Union. In that long struggle no single person has done more disinter

In the middle of the nineteenth century there lived in the parish of Marsham, Norfolk, (a little village about ten miles from Norwich and one and a half miles from Aylsham), a couple of poor people by the name of Thomas and Mary Edwards. Thomas Edwards was the second husband of Mary Edwards, whose first husband was Robert Stageman. He died in consumption and left her with three little children to support. In due course she married Thomas Edwards, by whom she had four children, the entire family

It was in the year 1855 when I had my first experience of real distress. On my father's return home from work one night he was stopped by a policeman who searched his bag and took from it five turnips, which he was taking home to make his children an evening meal. There was no bread in the house. His wife and children were waiting for him to come home, but he was not allowed to do so. He was arrested, taken before the magistrates next day, and committed to prison for fourteen days' hard labour f

In the spring of 1870 I went to work in a brickfield at Alby. Here I met a woman who was to play a wonderful part in my future life. Her name was Charlotte Corke, daughter of the late Mr. James Corke of that parish. She herself had felt the pinch of poverty, being the youngest child of nine. We became engaged, and on June 21, 1872, we married at Alby Church. A record of this event is still to be found in the church register. At this time I was given a note of liberty by the Aylsham Primitive Met

The year 1872 will throughout history be considered the most interesting period from the standpoint of the agricultural labourers of England. There had been some improvement in the condition of the labourers of England through the increase of the purchasing power of their wages, largely due to the abolition of the wicked Corn Laws and the adoption of Free Trade. Moreover, agriculture was never more prosperous than it was from 1849 to 1872. But, despite the increase in the purchasing power of the

IN the autumn of 1889 the men in Norfolk began to want to form a Union again. This time they appealed to me to lead them in the district in which I lived. For some weeks I refused to take any leading part, but was willing to join a Union. I had only just got settled down comfortably after my terrible eighteen months of bitter persecution, and was just anxious to remain quietly at work. I had no wish to enter into the turmoil of public life. But at last, through the men's constant pleadings, I yi

In 1892 I fought my first political battle, and for the first time my faith in the Liberal Party received a shock. In this year took place the second General County Council Election, and, by special request of the working men in the Cromer district, I allowed myself to be nominated as a Liberal-Labour candidate for that division, expecting, of course, that I should have the united support of the Liberal Party in whose interests I had worked so hard for several years. Believing them when they sai

The continuance of bad seasons since 1890, with low prices, had brought about a great depression in agriculture. Thousands of labourers were discharged, and the greatest distress prevailed amongst the rural population. Prices went down to the lowest level. Thousands of coombs of barley were sold at 9s. per coomb and of wheat at 12s. per coomb. Had not the root crop been exceptionally good and feeding stuffs very cheap, which gave them a fair profit on their cattle, many of the farmers must have

In the first week of December 1895, at the request of the Cromer District Liberal Association, I invited Mr. Arch to come to Cromer and address a meeting there. This invitation he accepted. Mr. Ketton presided. I was anxious to give the old man a good reception, and I obtained the services of the Cromer and Southrepps Brass Bands to play Arch from the house at which he was staying to the Lecture Hall. I met him at the station in the afternoon, and as soon as I took his hand I found he was broken

No sooner was the General Election over (which brought about the greatest Tory defeat that that Party had ever experienced) than victimization became rife. Scores of men were victimized on mere suspicion, especially in Norfolk. The labourers appealed to me from all parts of the country to help them to form another Union for the agricultural labourers. The correspondence revealed most glaring cases of victimization. I will give a sample of what was happening. One correspondent told me that during

At the end of the year the Provisional Committee was so satisfied with the success of my efforts that they decided to call a general meeting of the branches formed and to invite the branches to send one delegate each. It was left to me to make the arrangements, and Norwich was selected as the place of meeting in the first week in February. I engaged the large room at the Co-operative Institute. By the time this delegate meeting was held I had formed fifty-six branches with a membership of nearly

On February 20, 1909, the third General Council Meeting of the Union was held in St. James's Hall, King's Lynn, and by the resolutions that were sent in from the various branches I was satisfied that the men were getting restless and that without great care trouble was facing us in the near future, and that it was imperative that we should be taking some steps to secure some improvement in the working condition of our members. The committee, however, could not see that there was any danger; but

On April 25th I got the committee together again. This time they met in the Cozens' Temperance Hotel, King's Lynn. There attended the following: Mr. George Nicholls, M.P., President; Mr. Richard Winfrey, M.P., Treasurer; Messrs H. Day, J. Stibbons, T. Thacker, W. Codling, A. P. Petch, G. Giles, M. Berry and myself. The first minute that was passed was that my quarterly report be received and that my action in giving support to the Trunch members out on strike be endorsed. The last part of the re

The committee at their quarterly meeting held at Cozens' Temperance Hotel, at King's Lynn, on Saturday, July 30th, decided, on the motion of Mr. Winfrey, to move the office of the Union from Gresham to Fakenham, if a suitable house could be found, and they appointed Mr. Robert Green and myself a sub-committee to secure one if possible. This we did after a good deal of correspondence. We first agreed on one on a seven years' lease in Walsall Terrace, Queen's Road, Fakenham, at a rental of £17 per

As the time drew near for the General Council to meet there was every evidence that the meeting would be a stormy one. Resolutions for agenda condemning the Executive for closing the St. Faith's strike came in by the score. Letters of protest poured into the office. I drew up my report, got the books audited, got the balance sheet printed ready for the meeting as instructed by the Executive, prepared the agenda, hired the Town Hall and Assembly Rooms at Fakenham for the day and invited the repre

The General Council being over and the new Executive being elected, they were called upon to bring to a close the strike according to the decision of the old Executive, which, though we soon found it to be a very difficult matter, we set about in a business-like manner. In our President, Mr. W. R. Smith, and Mr. Holmes we had two men who had had wide experience in settling such things; this made the task much more easy, and we closed the dispute without inflicting more hardship than we could pos

On August 4, 1914, the Great War commenced and, as stated, I came to the conclusion, like most of the other Labour leaders, that according to the information I had at my disposal we had no other alternative but to enter the war. I felt that it was a struggle for our very existence; further, that we were fighting to overcome one of the greatest curses to humanity, namely the wicked spirit of militarism. I therefore decided to put what appeared to me at the time the nation's interest before any ot

The Union had decided, after taking a ballot of the members according to the Act of 1913, to take political action and to be affiliated to the Labour Party. I at once decided to be loyal to my Union. Early in 1918 I publicly announced that I intended to sever my connection with the Liberal Party and that henceforth my influence should be given to the political Labour Party. I had for some time been getting out of touch with the Liberal Party. In fact, I always was an advanced Radical and had hop

The votes were counted at the Shirehouse, Norwich, on Monday August 9th. My niece and I were early astir and we decorated ourselves with the party colour. My neighbour presented me with a little toy black cat for luck. Another sent me a small horseshoe. On arriving at the Shirehouse I found my agent and my close friend, Mr. W. R. Smith, all smiles and in close conversation, as the counting had been proceeding some time before my arrival. One of the other candidates had arrived before me, Mr. C.