|
James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish socialist and the first Labour Member of Parliament. Hardie started work at the age of seven, but was rigorously educated at home by his parents, and later attended night school. Working in the mines, he soon became a full-time trade union organiser. His leadership of the failed Ayrshire miners’ strike of 1881 made such an impact on the mine-owners that they granted important concessions for fear of future industrial action. Having won the parliamentary seat of West Ham South as an independent candidate in 1892, he helped to form the Independent Labour Party (ILP) the following year. In 1900 he helped to form the union-based Labour Representation Committee, soon re-named the Labour Party, with which the ILP later merged. Hardie was also a lay preacher and temperance campaigner, who supported votes for women, self-rule for India, home-rule for Scotland, and an end to segregation in South Africa. At the outbreak of World War I, he tried to organise a pacifist general strike, but died soon afterwards. ==Early life== James Keir Hardie was born on 15 August 1856 in a two-roomed cottage on the western edge of Newhouse, North Lanarkshire, near Holytown, a small town close to Motherwell in Scotland. His mother, Mary Keir, was a domestic servant and his stepfather, David Hardie, was a ship's carpenter.〔William Stewart, ''J. Keir Hardie: A Biography.'' Revised Second Edition. London: Independent Labour Party Publication Department, 1925; pg. 1.〕 (He had little or no contact with his natural father, a Lanarkshire miner named William Aitken.)〔(Oxford Dictionary of National Biography )〕 The growing family soon moved to the shipbuilding burgh of Govan near Glasgow, where they made a life in a very difficult financial situation, with his father attempting to maintain continuous employment in the shipyards rather than practising his trade at sea — never an easy proposition given the boom-and-bust cycle of the industry.〔Stewart, ''Keir Hardie,'' Also he is related to Cam. pp. 1-2.〕 Hardie's first job came at the early age of 7, when he was put to work as a message boy for the Anchor Line Steamship Company. Formal schooling henceforth became impossible, but his parents spent evenings teaching him to read and write, skills which proved essential for future self-education.〔Stewart, ''J. Keir Hardie,'' pg. 2.〕 A series of low-paying entry-level jobs followed for the boy, including work as an apprentice in a brass-fitting shop, work for a lithographer, employment in the shipyards heating rivets, and time spent as a message boy for a baker for which he earned 4 shillings and 6 pence a week.〔Stewart, ''Keir Hardie,'' pp. 2-3.〕 A great lockout of the Clydeside shipworkers took place in which the unionised workers were sent home for a period of six months. With its main source of support terminated, the family was forced to sell all its possessions for food, with James' meagre earnings the only remaining cash income. One sibling took ill and died in the miserable conditions which followed, while the pregnancy of his mother limited her ability to work. Making matters worse, young James lost his job for twice going late. In desperation, his father returned to work at sea, while his mother moved from Glasgow to Newarthill, where her mother still lived.〔Stewart, ''Keir Hardie,'' pg. 6.〕 At the age of 10 years, Hardie went to work in the mines as a "trapper" — opening and closing a door for a 10-hour shift in order to maintain the air supply for miners in a given section.〔Stewart, ''Keir Hardie,'' pp. 6-7.〕 Hardie also began to attend night school in Holytown at this time.〔Stewart, ''Keir Hardie,'' pg. 7.〕 Hardie's father returned from the sea and went to work on a railway line being constructed between Edinburgh and Glasgow. When this work was completed, the family moved to the village of Quarter, where the boy went to work as a pony driver at the mines, later working his way into the pits as a hewer. He also worked for two years above ground in the quarries. By the time he was 20, the boy had become a skilled practical miner.〔Stewart, ''Keir Hardie,'' pp. 7-8.〕 "Keir", as he was by now called, longed for a life outside the mines. To that end, encouraged by his mother, he had learned to read and write in shorthand. He also began to associate with the Evangelical Union becoming a member of the Evangelical Union Church, Park Street, Hamilton - now the United Reformed Church, Hamilton〔http://www.hamilton.urc.org.uk〕 (which also incorporates St. James' Congregational Church, attended by the young David Livingstone, the future famous missionary explorer), and to participate in the Temperance movement.〔Stewart, ''Keir Hardie,'' pg. 8.〕 Hardie's avocation of preaching put him before crowds of his fellows, helping him to learn the art of public speaking. Before long, Hardie was looked to by other miners as a logical chairman for their meetings and spokesman for their grievances. Mine owners began to see him as an agitator and in fairly short order he and two younger brothers were blacklisted from working in the local mining industry. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Keir Hardie」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|