I have to confess I know little of Janet's early life, but she married Joseph HENDERSON (born 1864 in Carlisle to William Henderson, a signalman and Jane TOWNSON) at Rowanburnfoot, Canonbie on 31st December 1908.
They had a daughter, Marjorie, born 5th January 1910.
Joseph Henderson was the first socialist Mayor of Carlisle (1927-28) and was President of the National Union of Railwaymen from 1934 to 1937. He had been elected as Labour Member of Parliament for Manchester Ardwick at a by-election in June 1931, following the death of the Labour MP Thomas Louth. At the general election in October 1931, when Labour split over Ramsay MacDonald's formation of a National Government, he lost the seat to the Conservative Party candidate Albert George Hubert Fuller.
Joseph regained the seat at the 1935 general election, and represented Manchester Ardwick in the House of Commons until he was elevated to the peerage in the Dissolution Honours List on 22 January 1950, as Baron Henderson of Ardwick. He was Lord Commissioner Of The Treasury from 1945-1950, serving under the Prime Minister, Clement Atlee and the Chancellor, Sir Stafford Cripps. According to Hansard, he made 41 speeches in the House of Commons between 1935 and 1949.
His maiden speech was made on 13th December 1935 and this is a copy of it -
1.12 p.m.
Mr. J. HENDERSON
As an hon. Member privileged to address this House for the first time, I have no doubt that I shall be afforded the traditional courtesy and indulgence in that respect, and if I do not pay the hon. and gallant Gentleman who preceded me the compliment due to him, I hope that he will not take it that any personal discourtesy is intended. I am pleased that the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer has rather cleared the atmosphere with regard to the date and the circumstances when these proposals were made known. My personal opinion is that it savours too much of political jobbery when we recognise that these discussions with the railway companies had been going on for some time. The right hon. Gentleman the Member for Hillhead (Sir R. Home) is reported to have said in a speech which he delivered at Plymouth in January of this year that he had great faith that the Government would support the railway companies in schemes of this character. It is doing the democratic institutions of this country a considerable dis-service to have projects of this description thrust upon the electorate in the throes of a General Election. It plays into the hands of the detractors of our democratic institutions, and, on the other hand, rather disheartens people who are very jealous of the preservation of their liberties.
As an hon. Member privileged to address this House for the first time, I have no doubt that I shall be afforded the traditional courtesy and indulgence in that respect, and if I do not pay the hon. and gallant Gentleman who preceded me the compliment due to him, I hope that he will not take it that any personal discourtesy is intended. I am pleased that the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer has rather cleared the atmosphere with regard to the date and the circumstances when these proposals were made known. My personal opinion is that it savours too much of political jobbery when we recognise that these discussions with the railway companies had been going on for some time. The right hon. Gentleman the Member for Hillhead (Sir R. Home) is reported to have said in a speech which he delivered at Plymouth in January of this year that he had great faith that the Government would support the railway companies in schemes of this character. It is doing the democratic institutions of this country a considerable dis-service to have projects of this description thrust upon the electorate in the throes of a General Election. It plays into the hands of the detractors of our democratic institutions, and, on the other hand, rather disheartens people who are very jealous of the preservation of their liberties.
The hon. and gallant Gentleman the Member for Cleveland (Commander Bower) spoke as a railway stockholder or for the railway stockholders, and I want to make some comments on behalf of the men who operate the railway services of this country. It has been inferred, if not stated, that these projects were responsible for many of the railway employés supporting the National Government in the last Election. I reject that imputation knowing the railway personnel as I do, and in view of my experience in active association with them. That puts their integrity at an extremely low level. The railwaymen and their families by a tremendous majority support the philosophy and policy advanced by representatives of the Labour party. In demonstration of that, may I say that the Union of which I am a member, the National Union of Railwaymen, has 1,200 of its members who are either councillors or aldermen of local authorities. In addition, they can claim, many chairmen of parish councils. Last year nine of our members were mayors of various municipalities. All these humble working men at the end of their period of office had added lustre to the well-founded local government system of this country. It would be ungracious on my part not to pay a tribute to the railway companies for having afforded to these men facilities for attending to their duties in connection with local government. I would, however, make the point that railway employés, in the main, are an influential and integral part of the Labour movement of this country, and they deeply resent the insinuations that have been made that, more or less, they were bribed by this £30,000,000 development scheme being dangled before their eyes during the Election.
The present occasion is a sad commentary upon the existing capitalist system, when we look at the extensive ramifications of the four railway companies. They own many thousands of miles of railway track, and are reputed—and I believe it to be correct—to be the largest owners of docks in this country. They are also the largest owners of restaurants and hotels in the world and they own practically the canal system of the country. They have money invested in airways and £10,000,000 of capital locked up in road transport. In view of these ramifications, when monopolistic authorities such as the railway companies cannot provide the necessary public services, they must be in a very parlous state. It is an outward and visible sign of the decay of the present system, whatever may be said by hon. Members opposite. If proof were needed, it is here provided that the time is propitious when transport should be organised and publicly controlled in this country.
The right hon. and learned Member for Hillhead said that the work contemplated would mean increased prosperity for the operatives of the railway services. Whoever replies for the Government I should like him to give me some assurance that these schemes, the efficacy of which I am not going to criticise, will not be to the detriment of the railway employees. Automatic signalling has in our experience been responsible for many hundreds of signal boxes and signalmen becoming redundant and displaced. More powerful locomotives envisage heavier and longer trains to be handled, and in the sum total it means fewer and fewer train crews. Incidentally, it means a heavier physical and mental strain on the men who will have to handle the trains. The electrification of the railway from Manchester to Sheffield, a distance of 41 miles, is mentioned, and that will diminish the personnel so far as that length of line is concerned. I hope that the Government will bring pressure to bear upon the companies so that men who are displaced as a result of the developments arising from these loans will be treated in a considerate manner and that their status will be adequately safeguarded.
I welcome the tribute that has been paid to the diligence, capacity and fairness with which the railwaymen of this country labour. I am speaking for the men who earn the dividends and who will have to earn the interest on these loans. It is not done without a great deal of human sacrifice. The casualty figures for last year are not generally known to the public. The toll of life and limb in the railway service is great. Last year 241 men were fatally injured and 14,484 were injured. The occupation of the railway employé is very onerous. I was rather intrigued by the argument adduced by one hon. Member in regard to speed. In this mechanised age the craze for speed is insatiable, but comfort and safety are essential and in providing it the railway employés have to face the rigours of the weather. While hon. Members and the general public are ensconced in their blankets at night the railway yards are busy and the great trains are thundering along the railway tracks. The tribute which has been paid this morning to the efficiency with which the railway system is worked will be appreciated by the men who operate the railways.
The right hon. Member for Hillsborough (Mr. Alexander) expressed the hope that the link between the companies and their employés would be strengthened rather than weakened as a result of the loans. It gives me no pleasure to say what I am about to say, and I hope that I shall not be misunderstood when I say that we have had a little domestic trouble with one of the companies concerned, the London Midland and Scottish, with whom normally we are on good terms. In a particular case the company have used their disciplinary machinery, but we are satisfied on the facts that an inquiry ought to take place in regard to the whole matter. That inquiry has been refused. I hope that commonsense and good will will prevail and the inquiry be granted, but if the officials concerned still adhere to their inflexible attitude and refuse the inquiry, then when the company come along under the provisions of this Bill for certain powers we shall be compelled to ask hon. Members on these Benches to support us in our opposition. I represent the railway operatives in what I have said and I hope my remarks will not be misunderstood but that they will act as an incentive to the railway officials to grant the inquiry and have the whole matter cleared up. I trust that the interrogations in my speech will elicit an answer from the Minister who replies for the Government. The answer, which will be awaited by the public and even more keenly by the men concerned, will, I hope, be satisfactory. I thank the House for having listened to me so patiently, and I hope that I have not unduly delayed the proceedings.
1.25 p.m.
Joseph died only five weeks after his peerage, in Carlisle, on 26 February 1950, aged 65, and the title became extinct on his death.
They were however, Lord and Lady Henderson.
This is Joseph Henderson
And my great aunt, Janet Glendinning Byers
Although they became Lord and Lady, I have no doubt that they were both socialists through and through - and I have to say I'm quite proud that they are in my family tree!
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