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Boots on the march |
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No union with unions
Hundreds of workers volunteered for the march and in the end 115, including a marching band, were selected. One third came from Ringstead, the rest from Raunds.
They relied on the quality of their own footwear on the march
© David Hall and Cyril Putt |
The march left Raunds on Monday, 8 May 1905 and when they arrived in London’s Hyde Park on Wednesday, 10,000 people had gathered to meet them. “General” Gribble and some others managed to get into Strangers Gallery in The House of Commons and, during a debate on Women’s Suffrage; Gribble stood up and shouted, “Mr Speaker, is this gentleman trying to talk out time? For I’ve come here with 115 men from Northampton to try to see Mr Arnold Foster” (Foster was Minister for War).
Gribble was ejected but his plea was not without results. Before the close of business that day, a lawyer had been instructed to make an enquiry into the dispute in Raunds. On Sunday afternoon, Keir Hardie, Labour Party Chairman 1906-08, spoke in their favour at a rally in Trafalgar Square.
James Gribble at Trafalgar Square
© Courtesy of J R Betts - Raunds & District History Society |
One man, of course, was not on the march, George Henry Roberts. He, unlike his brothers and the rest of his family, had no truck with the growing Labour Movement, nor with the Union. In this respect he held views similar to his distant relation, Margaret Thatcher.
The march achieved its objective, bringing attention to the plight of Raunds workers. The local paper said the march had, “created an historic precedent in the matter of laying grievances before the highest authorities”, and, although it was not the first march, it was the first by an organised body. The Raunds workers were paid a standard rate that was enforced by the War Office. This in itself initiated an enquiry that resulted in a change on the conditions of all contracts from 1906.
Words: David Saint
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