October 2022 marks the 86th anniversary of the famous Jarrow Hunger March. Why did 200 'crusaders' volunteer to walk 291miles to present a petition to the Government in Westminster? The motivations will resonate strongly with people today, struggling with the rising cost of living and growing threat to the security of their homes and families...
Although the First World War caused an economic boom in Britain, it masked a slow industrial decline from the country's Victorian heyday. As wartime demands gradually fell away, these failings again came to the fore and during 1920 Britain was plunged into an economic slump accompanied by high levels of unemployment and poverty. The situation was made far worse by the world-wide recession of 1929 and, having remained relatively constant, though high, at 10% throughout the 1920's, unemployment peaked at 22% in 1932.
Britain's traditional industries were particularly hard hit meaning that the North of England, Wales and Scotland, which had economies heavily dependent upon manufacturing, were disproportionately affected by the slump. This meant that these regions actually suffered far higher levels of unemployment than those suggested by the national average. And the effects were long-lasting, rather than following a regular economic cycle of prosperity and recession.
During the 1920's, the National Unemployed Workers' Movement (NUWM) organised a serious of 'hunger marches' to London in the hope that these would force the Government to radically rethink its economic policies. The term 'hunger march' was a recent one, first coined to describe a march by London's poor in 1908. The marches achieved nothing, however, the official view being that they were being high-jacked to serve the aims of their 'Communist' organisers.
The end of the world-wide recession in 1932 allowed Britain to begin a slow path to recovery. By 1936, economic growth had reached 4% and mini-booms were being seen in housing and consumer spending. The recovery was badly uneven, however, with those areas which had seen their traditional employers devastated during the slump slow to see any improvement.
The town of Jarrow, lying on the southern bank of the River Tyne, had undergone a massive period of expansion during the Victorian era. However its economy was based on precisely those industries - iron, steel, shipbuilding - which were so badly hit by the recent depression. Charles Mark Palmer, the so-called 'King of Jarrow', had created an industrial empire in the town but gradually each of these businesses failed in turn. Unemployment stood at 3,300 in 1930 (75% of the working population) and at 6,793 in 1932 (80% of the insured population). When Palmer's Shipyard failed in 1934, the town lost its last purpose for existing. As the town's newly elected MP, the firebrand 'Red Ellen' Wilkinson, so forcefully pointed out in the Commons in December,1935: "The years go on and nothing is done ... this is a desperately urgent matter and something should be done to get work to these areas which, heaven knows, want work."
The hunger-march had become an accepted form of protest and in July, 1936 the
town's political leaders set in progress plans to mount a march from Jarrow to deliver
a petition to Parliament calling for the opportunity to work. Over 1,200 men came forward to take part, but it was decided to limit numbers to the 200 fittest and hardiest to make the logistics manageable. A fund was started to pay for supplies and equipment and this would continue to collect donations as the men marched south. Rallies were scheduled for the march's overnight stops to spread the word of what it was trying to achieve. As one marcher put it: "We were more or less missionaries of the distressed areas, [not just] Jarrow."
On Monday, 5 October, the date set for the start of the March, the Marchers received the blessing of the Bishop of Jarrow at a dedication service in Christ Church. This gained the venture a boost in credibility, but the service was condemned by Hensley Henson, the Bishop of Durham, who was unflinchingly opposed to the Trades Union movement and Socialism. Henson condemned the hunger marches as a whole as nothing but a vehicle for the Labour Party and his colleague in Jarrow, James Gordon, was later obliged to state that the service was not intended to condone the March. To add injury to insult, the Marchers later discovered that their dole had been stopped as the March had made them unavailable for work!
Immediately after the service, the Marchers assembled at Jarrow Town Hall and made their last preparations before setting off. Although 200 men had been accepted for the venture, only 185 made it to the start-line due to sickness, changes in personal circumstance, etc. Around half of those taking part were veterans of the First World War and the Marchers walked in step and in military ranks to show their discipline and proclaim their past service. They took a 10-minute break every hour, in the military manner, and a harmonica band encouraged the singing of popular songs of the day to keep their spirits up. Before them they carried a blue-and-white banner proclaiming the ‘Jarrow Crusade’ though in Jarrow it was never known as anything other than ‘The March’. Again in the military tradition, behind them followed a bus with a field kitchen, a medical facility, and camping equipment for when beds were not available.
It would be a mistake to think that the Jarrow March took place in isolation. The sixth National Hunger March was setting off from 6 regional centres and these were due to unite in London a week after the arrival of the Jarrow men. Meanwhile, a group of blind veterans were marching in protest at the treatment of the nation’s 67,000 registered blind persons. The National Marches were seen as hostile and confrontational, and this undoubtedly aided the high level of publicity given to the Jarrow March which, by contrast, was recognised for its moderation and quiet dignity.
Ellen Wilkinson temporarily left the march at its first stopping point, in Chester-le-Street, to attend the Labour Party's annual conference in Edinburgh. Although it was proclaimed to be non-political, the Jarrow March was very much a product of the town’s Labour Council and she may have hoped to gain some support from her colleagues. In this she was to be disappointed, however. The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) was a minority part of the National Government of the time and anxious to distance itself from any accusations of ‘Communism’. So, neither this nor the Trade Union Congress (TUC) would offer its endorsement. David Riley, the Chairman of Jarrow Borough Council and a leading light in the organisation of the March, later complained that they felt that they had been "stabbed in the back".
As they moved south, the reception extended to the Marchers varied from indifferent to warm and welcoming. Local accommodation was secured in a series of Schools, Church Halls or other spacious buildings, and often gifts were made of food and clean clothing. What soon became clear was that the reception received bore no link to the political affiliation of the local Councils and the organisers of the March were at pains to avoid any action that might alienate any political body. Often the weather was bad, cold with driving rain.
Very quickly the March began attracting wide publicity and the Government in London, afraid that it was gaining Royal attention, acted to limit sympathy for it, claiming that such Marches only resulted in “unnecessary hardship for those taking part in them”. Wilkinson continued to push for an official reception for the Marchers, but received no encouragement from Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin during heated exchanges in the Commons. In truth Baldwin was in an impossible position, for opening Parliament’s doors to the Jarrow Marchers would have set a dangerous precedent.
The March reached Edgware in northern London on Friday, 30 October, leaving a relatively short 8-mile walk to Marble Arch the following day. It had been denied permission to deliver its petition to Parliament and so Ellen Wilkinson had to make the last stage of the journey alone. The original petition, calling for Government aid for the Town, had 11,000 signatures and was carried in an oak box. An additional petition had been made available to those who had wanted to sign on the way.
A new session in the House of Commons was convened on 3 November – the March had been timetabled to take advantage of this – and next day the Petition was presented. A (very) brief discussion followed after which the House returned to its normal business.
The March garnered a lot of publicity, a lot of soft words, but achieved little real change. This was not lost on the marchers themselves and the return journey home by train was a sombre affair.
Not until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 did the Town start to recover from its long period of depression. When ‘Red Ellen’ published her history of Jarrow that same year she titled it: "The Town that was Murdered
The Marchers
The exact number of people – men, women and children – who walked at least part of the route of the March is unknown. The official list records the names and addresses of only the 185 men who started it, but some of these are known to have dropped out on the way while others replaced them or added to the numbers. Some people, like ‘Red Ellen’, walked only part of the way. A Special Branch report quotes 207 Marchers.
These are the 185 men who started the March:
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