General Federation of Trade Unions
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PETE CURRAN COMMEMORATION
Posted on Tuesday, March 02, 2010
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Mike Bradley attended a memorial event in Leyton to mark one hundred years since the death of Pete Curran MP. Pete was the first Chairman of the GFTU and Presided at ten Federation Conferences. He became MP for Jarrow in 1907.
The GFTU has published a book , written by Ron Curran, about the life of Pete. Copies are available from the Federation.
Details of Pete Curran were provided by the commemoration organisers.
Remembering Labour’s Forgotten Man
Pete Curran MP – died 14th February 1910.
The life of Pete Curran and his important contribution to the origins of the Labour Party and Trade Union movement, was commemorated last week on the 100th anniversary of his death.
Pete Curran, who lived in Walthamstow, was the first Labour MP elected in the north east, winning a by-election in Jarrow in 1907.
Local members of the Labour Party and Trades Council met at his graveside at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Leytonstone, to remember and celebrate Pete Curran’s life.
Those attending included Walthamstow MP Neil Gerrard and Cath Arakalian, the prospective Labour Party candidate for Chingford.
Pete Curran’s granddaughter, Marjorie Reeve, who is thought to be the nearest surviving relative, travelled up from Plymouth to attend.
The commemoration was organised by Pete Curran’s great grandson, Graham Reeve, who lives in Highams Park.
Speeches praising his life and contribution to the founding of the Labour Party and Trade Union movement were given by Graham Reeve, Ron Curran (no relation), who has written a fascinating biography of Pete Curran, and Mike Bradley, the General Secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions.
Pete Curran was born in Glasgow in 1860 of Irish descent and was one of the first leaders of the Labour and Trade Union movement. He was a comrade of well known historical Labour leaders including Keir Hardie, Ramsay Macdonald and Will Thorne.
Before he became MP for Jarrow he was the National Organiser of the Gasworkers Union and the Chairman of the first Management Committee of the General Federation of Trade Unions in 1899.
Pete moved to London at about this time and worked at Woolwich Arsenal as a hammer man and became a full time union officer.
He also spent time in Plymouth where he was sentenced to 6 weeks in prison for organising a strike on behalf of the harbour workers.
He was a real socialist and pioneer and a hero in the origins of the labour movement;
He was a strong willed man, a born leader and political organiser but his achievements have largely been forgotten.
He died at the family home at 1 Pretoria Avenue, Walthamstow, and it is a measure of how much he was admired that thousands of people lined the streets from Walthamstow along the route of his funeral, to Leytonstone.
Principal mourners included Ramsay MacDonald and Will Thorne and other leading members of the Labour Party.
A gas-worker’s union man to the very last, the funeral procession was led by the Stepney Gas-worker’s brass band.
He died at the young age of 49, and had he lived longer, he could well have been a member of Ramsay Macdonald’s first Labour Government in 1924.
Graham Reeve
1st March 2010
Mobile: 07824622386.
Email: ruthandgraham@sky.com
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