[William]. British Labour politician, born at Poplar on the 6th of April 1852. After spending his early years in the workhouse of which he afterwards became chairman of the Board of Guardians, he started work at the age of fourteen as a cooper’s apprentice, and soon became an ardent trade unionist. His long career of public work began in 1882, when he was made trustee of the parish of Poplar and Library Commissioner. In 1892 he became a member of the L.C.C., on which he worked continuously for twenty-eight years. From 1898 to 1906 he was chairman of the Poplar Board of Guardians, and in 1901 mayor of Poplar. In 1903 he entered Parliament for Woolwich, and, except for one short interval in 1910, continued to represent that constituency until his resignation in 1921. On the outbreak of the World War he entered wholeheartedly into the work of recruiting and in 1916 he was made a Privy Councillor. Continued ill-health compelled his retirement from politics in February 1921, and he died in Poplar hospital on the 5th of June 1921.
