Charlie Cramp
Concemore Thomas Thwaites Cramp (19 March 1876 – 13 July 1933), known as Charlie Cramp, was a British trade unionist and political activist.
Born in Staplehurst in Kent, Cramp worked as a gardener, before gaining employment with the Midland Railway. He worked as a porter based in Shipley and then Rotherham, where he was promoted to become a guard, and joined the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS). Soon after, he moved to Sheffield, where he married an Elizabeth Baker, also from Staplehurst.[1]
Cramp was an effective trade unionist, and was elected to the executive of the ASRS in 1911, immediately prior to a major strike.[1] The ASRS merged with other unions in 1913 to form the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR).[1] Cramp maintained his position on its executive, working during World War I to oppose further strikes, and was elected as President of the NUR in 1917.[1][2] He was also appointed as Industrial General Secretary of the union, a full-time position in which he was seen as deputy to General Secretary James Henry Thomas.[1]
Cramp was also active in the Labour Party. He stood unsuccessfully for it in Middlesbrough West at the 1918 general election.[3] He was a member of its National Executive Committee from 1919 until 1929, and served as Chair of the Labour Party in 1924/5.[1][2] The following year, he was elected as President of the International Transport Workers' Federation.[4] In 1929, he was elected to the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, serving for three years,[2] thereby swapping positions with Thomas. In 1931, Thomas was given a ministerial position, and Cramp took over as General Secretary, but he died suddenly two years later, aged 57.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g David Howell, "Cramp, Concemore Thomas Thwaites", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ a b c Geert van Goethem, The Amsterdam International, p.129
- ^ Hastings Lees-Smith, "Encyclopaedia of the Labour Movement", p.187
- ^ "General Secretaries and Presidents of the ITF 1896-2010", International Transport Workers' Federation
Trade union offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Albert Bellamy | President of the National Union of Railwaymen 1917–1919 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Industrial General Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen 1920–1931 | Succeeded by John Marchbank as Assistant General Secretary |
Preceded by Robert Williams | President of the International Transport Workers' Federation 1925–1933 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | General Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen 1931–1933 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by William C. Robinson and Robert Barrie Walker | Trades Union Congress representative to the American Federation of Labour 1924 With: Alonzo Swales | Succeeded by A. A. Purcell and Ben Smith |
Party political offices | ||
Preceded by | President of the Labour and Socialist International 1924–1925 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Chair of the Labour Party 1924–1925 | Succeeded by Robert Williams |
- v
- t
- e
- 1913: James Edwin Williams
- 1916: J. H. Thomas
- 1931: Charlie Cramp
- 1933: John Marchbank
- 1943: John Benstead
- 1948: Jim Figgins
- 1953: Jim Campbell
- 1957: Sidney Greene
- 1975: Sidney Weighell
- 1983: Jimmy Knapp
- 1913: Samuel Chorlton, Walter Hudson, Thomas Lowth and J. H. Thomas
- 1916: Chorlton, Hudson and Lowth
- 1920: Charlie Cramp
- 1931: John Marchbank
- 1933: G. W. Brown
- 1940: John Benstead
- 1943: Jim Figgins
- 1948: Jim Campbell
- 1954: Sidney Greene
- 1957: George Brassington
- 1969: Sidney Weighell
- 1974: Russell Tuck
- 1983: Charles Turnock
- 1987: Alan Dodds
- National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
- Triple Alliance