George Mitchell (trade unionist)

George Mitchell (6 February 1827 – 24 January 1901) was a British stonemason, who became prominent in the National Agricultural Labourers' Union.

Mitchell was born in Montacute in Somerset and began working when he was five years old, as a crow scarer. He later became a stonemason, following his father's trade, and proved highly successful. In time he moved to London, and began trading in marble, eventually becoming wealthy.[1]

Despite his wealth and location, Mitchell remained sympathetic to the agricultural labourers he had worked with in his youth.[1] Initially, he was suspicious of trade unions, but he became enthusiastic after discovering that many of their leaders shared his Methodist faith.[2] As a result, he was enthusiastic when the National Agricultural Labourers' Union (NALU) was established, and in June 1872 he was a founder of its Somerset District.[1]

Mitchell wrote numerous letters and pamphlets supportive of the union, usually under the pen name "One From the Plough".[1] In 1874, he wrote The Skeleton at the Plough: or the Poor Farm Labourers of the West, which included his autobiography.[2] In 1877, he organised a mass meeting at Ham Hill, attended by 20,000 people. It became an annual occasion, running until 1892.[3]

Mitchell served as a trustee of the union and donated huge amounts of his own money to it, totaling around £20,000, leading to his bankruptcy.[1] By 1884, he was concerned that he was unable to obtain information on how the union was spending its funds, and as result, he refused to allow any of the union's £6,000 reserved to be spent. This upset the union's president, Joseph Arch, who ensured that Mitchell was voted out as a trustee.[4][5]

Mitchell also took part in political activism, and in 1882 was elected to the London School Board, representing Chelsea.[6] Despite his differences with Arch, Mitchell was selected by the union as a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for South Somerset at the 1885 general election, although he did not ultimately stand.[7] By 1888, the union was in decline, and Mitchell was calling for an independent investigation into its finances.[5] From 1890 until 1892, he led an effort to found a new union, the Somerset and West of England Farm Labourers' Union, although little came of it.[8]

Mitchell spent the remainder of the 1890s trying to rebuild his marble business.[1] He died early in 1901, at home in Shepherd's Bush.[9]

References
  1. Groves, Reg (1949). Sharpen the Sickle. London: Porcupine Press. pp. 62–63, 87.
  2. "Mitchell, George". Dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland.
  3. "Agricultural unionism in the South West". Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum. Trades Union Congress. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  4. "The Friends of the Agricultural Labourer". Manchester Courier. 15 June 1886.
  5. "National Agricultural Labourers' Union: Demonstration at Newport". Essex Newsman. 22 December 1888.
  6. "The London School Board election". Manchester Guardian. 27 November 1882.
  7. "General News: Political". Berrow's Worcester Journal. 18 April 1885.
  8. "The Agricultural Labourers". Manchester Guardian. 10 May 1892.
  9. ""One from the Plough"". Yorkshire Telegraph and Star. 26 January 1901.
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