Pages from Edwin Gooch: Champion of the Farmworkers
Edwin Gooch was a significant figure in agricultural trade unionism and Labour Party politics in the mid-20th century. After setting up South Norfolk Labour Party in his native town of Wymondham in 1918, he helped elect George Edwards MP; then came to prominence himself in the 1923 Great Strike of Norfolk farmworkers. As President of the National Union of Agricultural Workers from 1930, he served for almost 35 years in an honorary but influential role, and in 1945 he was elected MP for North Norfolk, becoming Party Chairman ten years later. He led the fight for decent wages and conditions for farmworkers, and campaigned against the tied cottage, with support from Labour heroes George Lansbury, Clement Attlee and Aneurin Bevan. In this book, his grandson, Simon Gooch, draws on his late father’s reminiscences, his own childhood memories and archival research—often using Edwin’s own words from the NUAW’s journal The Land Worker. The language of political debate comes back to life, creating a vivid portrait of a man whose strong Norfolk accent once rang around the House of Commons.
Edwin Gooch was a significant figure in agricultural trade unionism and Labour Party politics in the mid-20th century. After setting up South Norfolk Labour Party in his native town of Wymondham in 1918, he helped elect George Edwards MP; then came to prominence himself in the 1923 Great Strike of Norfolk farmworkers. As President of the National Union of Agricultural Workers from 1930, he served for almost 35 years in an honorary but influential role, and in 1945 he was elected MP for North Norfolk, becoming Party Chairman ten years later. He led the fight for decent wages and conditions for farmworkers, and campaigned against the tied cottage, with support from Labour heroes George Lansbury, Clement Attlee and Aneurin Bevan.
In this book, his grandson, Simon Gooch, draws on his late father’s reminiscences, his own childhood memories and archival research—often using Edwin’s own words from the NUAW’s journal The Land Worker. The language of political debate comes back to life, creating a vivid portrait of a man whose strong Norfolk accent once rang around the House of Commons.
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Independent Labour Party [Norwich], 23
Independent Order of Rechabites, 11, 49
International Labour Organisation [ILO],
80, 94, 102
International Landworkers Federation
[ILF], 77, 94, 102
Jackson, Rev Percy, 11
Keelby Church Rally [1938], 57
Keir Hardie Hall [Norwich], 37, 39-42
Kent, Duke of, 68
Kett, Robert, 9, 41
Kett’s Oak, 9
Kett’s Rebellion, 1, 114
“Khaki Election” [1918], 26, 75
Khrushchev, Nikita, 99-100
Kimberley, Lord, 27, 29, 47
Kimberley Hall and Park, 27, 41
King, Douglas, 75
King Edward VI School [Norwich], 15,
48, 52
Kirstead, 7
Labour Party, 3, 23, 25, 27, 29-30, 43, 46,
52, 55-56, 68, 70, 75, 80, 83, 90, 93,
97-99, 101, 112, 116
Labour Party Agricultural Advisory
Committee, 52
Labour Party Conference on Ireland
[1920], 30
Labour Party National Executive
Committee [NEC], 63, 78, 96, 99,
101, 103, 106
Labour Party Conference [1935,
Brighton], 63
Labour Party Conference [1946], 84
Labour Party Conference [1949,
Blackpool], 79
Labour Party Conference [1956,
Blackpool], 101
Labour Party Conference [1958,
Scarborough], 102
Labour Party Conference [1960,
Scarborough], 103
Labour Party Conference [1961,
Blackpool], 106
Labour Party Conference [1962,
Brighton], 106
Labour Party Constitution, 23
Labour Party National Rally [1955,
Filey], 97
Labour Party Permanent Agricultural
Committee, 80
‘Labourer’, 26
La Guardia, Fiorello, 78
‘Land and National Planning of
Agriculture’ [Labour Party Report,
1931], 55
‘Land Worker’, 4-5, 29-31, 34-35, 39-41,
54, 58-59, 63-64, 66, 68, 70-71,
75-76, 78-81, 83-84, 88-91, 93, 95,
97, 103-104, 106-107, 109-110, 113-
118, 122
Lane, Ellen, 69
Lane, Freda, 71 [see Hayes, Freda]
Lane, Mabel, 49, 69
Lane, Walter, 49, 69
Lansbury, George, 38, 55, 57-58, 60, 62,
68
League of Nations, 23
Ledeboer, Judith, 71
Lee, Jennie, 63
Liberal Party, 9-10, 24, 51
Lloyd George, David, 26, 29-30, 33, 51,
71
Lloyd George, Megan, 71
London County Council, 62, 89
Loveless, George, 122
Low, David, 61
Lunnon, James, 37-39, 64, 91
127
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