Charles Fenwick
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Charles Fenwick (5 May 1850 – 20 April 1918) was a British trade unionist and Liberal–Labour politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1918.
Fenwick was born in Cramlington, Northumberland, and became a coal miner at the age of ten. In 1863 joined the union and gradually became prominent within the Northumberland Miners' Association, his local union. He also became a Primitive Methodist preacher.[1]
At the 1885 UK general election, Fenwick was elected as the Lib–Lab Member of Parliament for Wansbeck and held the seat until his death. He made over 500 contributions in Parliament.[2]
In 1890, Fenwick was elected Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) – the post which later became the General Secretary. He held the post until 1894, despite being a vociferous opponent of the Eight Hour Bill.
Although Fenwick's union affiliated to the Labour Party in 1907, Fenwick himself refused to join, and remained affiliated to the Liberal Party. He held his seat, but announced his intention to stand down from Parliament shortly before his death in 1918 aged 67.
References
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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Preceded by
New constituency
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Member of Parliament for Wansbeck 1885–1918 |
Succeeded by Robert Mason |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by | Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee of the TUC 1890–1894 |
Succeeded by Sam Woods |
- Liberal Party (UK) MPs
- Liberal-Labour (UK) politicians
- General Secretaries of the Trades Union Congress
- Liberal-Labour (UK) MPs
- UK MPs 1885–86
- UK MPs 1886–92
- UK MPs 1892–95
- UK MPs 1895–1900
- UK MPs 1900–06
- UK MPs 1906–10
- UK MPs 1910
- UK MPs 1910–18
- 1850 births
- 1918 deaths
- People from Cramlington
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies