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Sir Herbert Edwin Blain | |
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 Photographic portrait | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Herbert Edwin Blain 14 May 1870 Liverpool, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 16 December 1942 (aged 72) Burgess Hill, Sussex |
Sir Herbert Edwin Blain CBE (14 May 1870 – 16 December 1942) was a British trade unionist and political activist.
A pioneering figure in the development of trade unionism amongst municipal workers
Biography
[edit]Early years
[edit]Herbert Edwin Blain was born on 14 May 1870 at Liverpool in county Lancashire, the son of Arbuthnot Harrison Blain and Elizabeth (née Stalker). His father was a chemist and druggist. Herbert was educated at Liverpool Technical School.[1][2]
Local government associations
[edit]In 1886 Blain began his working career as a clerk working for Liverpool Corporation, the local government authority for the city of Liverpool. During his time with the Liverpool Corporation, Blain rose to become the principal traffic assistant of the tramways department.[2]
Herbert Blain married Clara Louisa Brake on 26 October 1892.[1]
Blain was skilled in shorthand and during the 1890s he held prominent roles in the National Federation of Shorthand Writers Associations, serving at various times as secretary, treasurer and president.[1]
In 1896, on his own initiative, Blain formed the Liverpool Municipal Officers' Guild, an association which opened its membership to all local government officers in the city, regardless of grade "from the town clerk to the office boy". The objectives of the Liverpool guild was to "provide means for social intercourse amongst its members, and for their improvement, advancement, and recreation, also promote a knowledge of the principles of local government". It was the first inclusive association of local government officers in Britain, as previous associations limited membership to chief and senior officers or had a narrow objective to implement pensions.[3] In order to secure its position, Blain appointed prominent local officials and politicians to honorary positions in the guild. He persuaded Sir William Forwood, a prominent Liverpool merchand and previous Lord Mayor of the city, to take on the role of the guild's first honorary president.[4] The Liverpool Municipal Officers' Guild organised a wide range of social, educational and sporting activities for its members and their families.[5][1] Within a short period the guild, with Blain as its chairman, proved to be an efficiently run and highly successful friendly society with 1,200 members, supported by their employers. The success of the Liverpool guild encouraged Blain to extend the idea to other local authorities. Over the next few years he worked with staff at other authorities, resulting in similar guilds being formed at localities such as Hull, Derby, Oldham, Tunbridge Wells and Macclesfield.[6]
With the growing success of local government employees' guilds, Blain began to envisage the possibility of forming a national organisation linking the local guilds. In 1902 the vice-chairman of the Municipal Officers' Association (MOA), a London-based organisation formed in 1894 with the singular purpose of seeking legislative reform to establish pensions for local government officers, travelled to Liverpool to invite the guild to join forces with the MOA. Since its formation the MOA had been frustrated in its attempts to establish pensions for local government officers, resulting in falling membership numbers. Blain and his colleagues had minimal interest in superannuation, as Liverpool was one of only a few local authorities giving pensions to its staff, but nevertheless agreed to join with the MOA. In October 1903 the MOA and the Liverpool guild sent a joint circular to all known guilds, urging the transformation, "on a large and influential scale", of the Municipal Officers' Association into a national body. The stated aims of the association included pensions for all officers, transferable between authorities, and greater security of tenure.[6][7]
Several weeks prior to the joint circular being sent, Blain had left Liverpool to become manager of the newly-created tramways department at West Ham in east London. After his arrival he joined the MOA, but found the organisation in a moribund state and considering dissolution. Bringing his organisational skills to bear, Blain met with the MOA president and solicitor to the City of London Corporation, Sir Homewood Crawford, and persuaded him to oppose dissolution in favour of a reorganised national body. In June 1904 a reorganisation committee was formed, with Blain as chairman. At a meeting in November 1904 a new executive was elected, with Blain as vice-chairman, determined to restructure the MOA along Liverpool lines.[8]
Blain organised a conference to bring together the MOA, the local guilds, and a few other small unions, and in 1905, this formed the National Association of Local Government Officers (NALGO).[5][1]
Blain served on the executive of NALGO, though never as a paid official. In 1908, East Ham Council, run by the Municipal Alliance, decided to dismiss many of its officers, and reduce the wages and conditions of employment of the remainder. Blain organised NALGO's opposition, finding union members to act as election agents for opponents who would reinstate the officers. This proved hugely successful; every councillor who had supported the cuts lost their seat, and a new Progressive Party council was elected, which reinstated the dismissed staff and their previous conditions.[9]
Transport and safety
[edit]In 1913, Blain left local government employment to work with the new group combining London Underground Railways and the London General Omnibus Company. He was appointed as the operating manager in 1914.[1]
Blain left NALGO in 1914, and thereafter spent his spare time focusing on health and safety, founding the London Safety First Council and served as its honorary secretary.. In 1921, he became the assistant managing director of the London transportation group.[10][1]
In October 1920 Blain was invested as a Commander (civil division) of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).[11]
Blain was prominently involved in the founding of the National Safety First Association (NSFA).[1]
Conservatives
[edit]In 1924 Blain took up the role of principal agent of the Conservative Party, given the task of modernising the party's organisation after losing office to the Labour Party, supported by the Liberals, after the general election of December 1923.[1] The Conservatives regained a parliamentary majority in the general election held in October 1924.
In June 1925 Blain was awarded a knighthood "for political and public services".[12]
Last years
[edit]Blain's wife Clara died in April 1940.[1] Sir Herbert Blain married Mrs. Carol Louise McDowell on 2 May 1940.[13]
Sir Herbert Blain died on 16 December 1942 at his home at Burgess Hill in county Sussex, aged 72.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j 'Blain, Herbert Edward (1870-1942), Liverpool Footprints website; accessed 11 November 2024.
- ^ a b c 'Sir Herbert Blain' (obituary), The Times (London), 18 December 1942, page 7.
- ^ Alec Spoor (1967), page 13.
- ^ Alec Spoor (1967), page 14.
- ^ a b Alec Spoor (1967), pages 10-19.
- ^ a b Alec Spoor (1967), page 15. Cite error: The named reference "AS15" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ 'To-Day', The Times (London), 15 February 1895, page 9; 'Municipal Officers' Association', The Times, 20 March 1896, page 11.
- ^ Alec Spoor (1967), pages 16-17.
- ^ Alec Spoor (1967), pages 51-52.
- ^ Alec Spoor (1967), pages 62-64.
- ^ 'Court Circular', The Times (London), 13 October 1920, page 13.
- ^ 'King's Birthday Honours', The Times (London), 3 June 1925, page 7.
- ^ 'Marriages', The Times (London), 4 May 1940, page 1.
- Sources
- Alec Spoor (1967), White-Collar Union: Sixty Years of NALGO, London: Heinemann.