From Workhouse to Westminster: The Life Story of Will Crooks, M.P. — John Shaqi
From Workhouse to Westminster: The Life Story of Will Crooks, M.P.Haw, George
History
From Workhouse to Westminster: The Life Story of Will Crooks, M.P.
Haw, George
Crooks, William, 1852-1921; Legislators -- Great Britain -- Biography; Social reformers -- Great Britain -- Biography
The League remained faithful to its early pledge all the time. Through
good and ill report, through all the changes and dissensions which such
an organisation was bound to cause, the League never once faltered in
its support of Crooks. Regularly at its annual meetings the League
passed a vote of thanks to "our representative on the L.C.C. for his
untiring devotion to Labour's cause and his perseverance in initiating
social reform so beneficial to the working classes. They further desire
to record their perfect confidence in him and congratulate him on the
success of his work."
Many trade societies other than those on the original list became
subscribers to the Wages Fund through their local branches. Among them
were the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, the Stevedores' Labour
Protection League, the London Saddle and Harness Makers' Society, the
Postmen's Federation, the London Carmen's Trade Union, the Friendly
Society of Ironfounders, the Municipal Employees' Association, and the
Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants.
Certain admirers of Crooks outside the Labour Movement also sent
subscriptions to the League for the Wages Fund. Canon and Mrs. Barnett
and Dr. Clifford were occasional subscribers; so were Mrs. Bernard Shaw,
Mr. Cyril Jackson, Mrs. Ruth Homan, Mr. G. W. E. Russell, Mr. Sidney
Webb, Sir Melville Beachcroft, Canon Scott Holland, Mr. Fred Butler, the
editors of two or three London newspapers, and both Conservative and
Liberal Members of Parliament.
Occasionally working men in distant parts of the country who had heard
Crooks speak or watched his public work would send in their mite,
generally anonymously. One such contribution, sent during the Woolwich
by-election, consisted of four penny stamps, stuck on a torn piece of
dirty paper, on which were written the words:--
Will you please except four stamps toward the expens of will
Crooks election and may god bless him in being successful in
winning the seat for Labour
from a working man.
That was all. Crooks keeps the stamps and the note to this day.
This may be the proper place to make public another fact bearing on his
financial position. Many people have sent cheques to him direct, some of
these marked for his own personal use, some for helping the poor as he
thought best, others containing nothing beyond a brief note without name
or address like the following:--
This is sent by a well-wisher, who believes that you are an honest,
straightforward fellow with a large heart for those less fortunate
than yourself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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