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.
- No tags were found...
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Truman, Harry S, 82
TUC Memorial Cottages / Martyrs
Cottages, Tolpuddle, 62, 122
Unemployment Insurance [for
farmworkers], 58, 64
Unite, the Union, 3, 121-122
United Nations, 77
Vimy Ridge [Wymondham], 18
Volunteer Battalion Norfolk Regiment /
Volunteer Force, 19-20
Walker, Robert Barrie, 25-26, 34-35, 51,
53
Wall Street Crash, 54
Walsingham Old Courthouse, 38-39
Ward, Sheila, 89 [see Gooch, Sheila]
Waters, Alderman, 48
Webb, Sidney, 23
Wells-next-the-Sea, 4, 19-21
Wensum, River [1912 Flood], 14-15
Wesley, John, 37
Wesleyanism, 9-10
West African Engineers, 72
‘Who’s Who 1962’, 106
Wicklewood Workhouse, 41
Wild, Susan, 35
Williams, Tom, 80-81
Wilson, Harold, 103, 106, 111
Windsor Castle, 68
Winnifrith, Sir John, 114
Wisbech, 18
Wise, Lord, 117
Women’s Cooperative Guild, 71
Women’s Institute [Wymondham], 49,
71, 90
Women’s Land Army [1939-1945], 67
Women’s National Land Service Corps
[1914-1918], 26
Women’s Voluntary Service, 71
Woodcock, George, 116
Woodton, 7
Woolley, Sir Harold, 114
Woolworth’s Cafeteria [Norwich], 105
Workers Educational Association, 80
Workers Union, 26, 35, 45, 122
World Poultry Congress [1951, Paris], 93
Wymondham, 3-4, 7-15, 17-20, 23, 28,
35, 38, 43, 46, 49, 82, 89-90, 106,
111, 113
Wymondham
Abbey, 117
Cemetery, 11, 122
Civil Defence & Invasion Committee,
70
Cooperative Society, 52
Heritage Museum, 11
Junior School, 19
Labour Institute, 27-29
Labour Party, 28, 30, 71
Methodist Church, 10, 18-19, 49, 117
Parish Council, 33, 52
Urban District Council, 90
Young Farmers’ Clubs, 112
Young, George, 47, 51-52
“Zinoviev Letter”, 45
131
Change language