IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0372 BEDFORD
Held at: Bishopsgate Institute
Title: BEDFORD, James (1845-1904)
Date(s): 1891-1897
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 3 volumes
Name of creator(s): Bedford | James | 1845-1904 | trade unionist
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Born in Birmingham, 1845; no formal education; worked as a newspaper boy at Euston Station then took a job as a porter and collector for a wholesale publishing company; moved to Sunderland and apprenticed to Dawson Brothers, ship owners; served time in the East India trade, visiting Persia, Arabia, Ceylon, India and Abyssinia by sea and earned himself a 'Chief Mate's' certificate.
Bedford left shortly after and established the first teetotal public house in London which was a commercial success; toured the country lecturing on temperance and the business of teetotal public house keeping and published several essays on the subject. Bedford also became a tailor, teaching himself cutting and other skills and established tailor's shops in Bethnal Green Road and Hackney Road. Bedford was also heavily involved with trade-unionism, serving as President of both the General Railway Workers Union and the Society of Firewood Choppers. Died 1904.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Three scrapbooks containing press cuttings, correspondence, manuscripts and printed material, 1891-1897, regarding Bedford's experiences as Labour candidate for Norwich in the 1892 General Election, his presidency of the General Railway Workers Union, work on the Bethnal Green Board of Guardians and accusations of corruption levelled at him by labour colleagues and trade unionists (1891-1897).
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
No further arrangement at present.
Conditions governing access:
OPEN
Conditions governing reproduction:
Documents cannot be photocopied at present. Digital photography (without flash) is permitted for research purposes on completion of the Library's Copyright Declaration form and with respect to current UK copyright law.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
No further finding aid available.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
No further information available at present.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: Stefan Dickers, 12 July 2005.