C. W. Bowerman

The Right Honourable C. W. Bowerman
Bowerman in 1917
Member of Parliament for Deptford
In office 8 February 1906 – 27 October 1931
Preceded by	Arthur Henry Aylmer Morton
Succeeded by	Denis Augustine Hanley
1st General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress
In office 1921–1923
Assistant	Fred Bramley
Preceded by	new office
Succeeded by	Fred Bramley
11th Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress
In office 1911–1921
Preceded by	W. C. Steadman
Succeeded by	office abolished
Alderman of the London County Council
In office 1901–1907
President of the Trades Union Congress
In office 1901
Secretary	Sam Woods
Preceded by	William Pickles
Succeeded by	W. C. Steadman
General Secretary of the London Society of Compositors
In office 1892–1906
Preceded by	C. J. Drummond
Succeeded by	Thomas Naylor
Personal details
Born	(1851-01-22)22 January 1851 Honiton, Devon, England
Died	11 June 1947(1947-06-11) (aged 96) Highbury, London, England
Political party	Labour Progressive
Occupation	Trade unionist, compositor, jeweller

Charles William Bowerman PC (22 January 1851 – 11 June 1947), often known as C. W. Bowerman, was a British trade unionist and politician.

Life

Born in Honiton, Bowerman moved to Clerkenwell in London at an early age. On leaving education, he worked as a jeweller and then a compositor. In 1872 he briefly worked for Hour newspaper before moving to The Daily Telegraph. He joined the London Society of Compositors in 1873 and became its General Secretary in 1892, a post he held until 1906.

In 1893, Bowerman joined the Fabian Society, and in 1897, he was elected to the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress, the body which later became the General Council. In 1901, was elected as a Progressive Party alderman on London County Council, a position he held until 1907.

Bowerman was the President of the TUC in 1901, and the Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee from 1911 until 1921, when he became the organisation's first General Secretary. He retired from the post in 1923.

In 1906, Bowerman was elected as the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Deptford, a post he retained until the 1931 general election, becoming a privy councillor in 1916.

In the years following his defeat, Bowerman joined the Next Five Years Group, the council of Ruskin College and the board of directors of the Co-operative Printing Society.

He died on 11 June 1947.

Legacy

There is a plaque commemorating Bowerman on 4 Battledean Road, a house in London N5.

References

• Encyclopedia of Marxism: Glossary of People
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

External links

• 1903 photo
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Charles Bowerman